The One Dream
by stormy003
Summary: Yukimura Kiyoko has been forced to take on the 287th hunters' exam at the age of 16 by her counterpart, Yukimura Kuromi. The outgoing and caring girl developed a certain hate-love feeling and relationship towards a certain boy who's just an age older than her, Kurapika, as the exam proceeds. Will her counterpart find away to get rid of those feelings or will they end up together?
1. Character Profile and Note?

**If she was in buddyfight...**

Name: Yukimura Kiyoko

Kiyoko means pure child, Kuromi means dark beauty, and Yukimura means snowy village

Characters: 雪村 清子(暗美)

Nickname: Kuro (as Kuromi), Kiyo (as Kiyoko)

Alias/Stage Name: Yukimura Kuromi

Age: 16

Gender: Female

Birth date: December 21

World User: Magic World

Personality:  
*As Kiyoko, she is very friendly and bubbly to others. She enjoys making new friends and helping others in need. It is hard to see Kiyoko lose control over her sanity unless she's against a criminal fighter. She speaks calmly and her voice is usually filled with light as Kiyoko.  
* As Kuromi, she is the total opposite and is very hostile towards others. The outgoing side of her stands out more than her evil self. Her voice sounds harsher and sharper as Kuromi, making her sound mischievous and evil. Kuromi enjoys crushing challengers that dare to threaten her, smirking often as she does so.

Buddy Monster: Witch of Destruction, Hearty the Devastator

Buddy Skill: She has the ability to create a portal one at a time to get to a certain place. If it's something she has to take care close by, she relies on her athletic ability and her buddy's magic to move quickly and lightly.

Core Gadget: The gem on her deck is red while her case is violet with blue outlines. When luminizing her deck, the core deck case turns to a violet mp3 player with blue highlights and white earphones.

Affiliation: Student (Home schooled by her mom), Former Buddy Police Officer

Appearance:  
*Normal: Kiyoko has straight bangs in the center of her head. Her left fringe is braided and tucked behind her ear and lock of hair. The rest of her bangs on the right is tucked behind her ear and lock of hair, similar to the left. She has fair skin and her hair color is lavender. Kiyoko's eyes are amber (leaning over more on orange than red or yellow) and her eye shape is round and not too sharp. The girl wear's a loose pale/cloudy periwinkle shirt that looks like a short dress with a square collar that's slit in the middle, visible black straps underneath the shirt. The ribbon on her shirt is royal blue while the rose connected to the ribbon is crimson red. The baggy capris she wears reach an inch below her knees and are pale golden in color. Kiyoko wears white ankle socks matched with periwinkle and white sneakers, the lines and flap on her shoes being periwinkle. She has 3 white hidden clips holding her braids together. When Kuromi kicks in, her lavender hair his tipped with red with a hint of rose pink and her amber eyes change colors to a deep scarlet. Kuromi's eyes are now sharper and her pupils looks more like slits. Her hair is a little messier than her other self, Kiyoko.  
*Work: Kiyoko/Kuromi wears the buddy police uniform, a blue long sleeve shirt connected with shorts that reach mid thigh. The shirt and shorts are connected like a jumper and are folded at the sleeves and legs. The design on her shorts and shirt are similar to Tasuku's and her vest, also looks like the boy's, is orange with golden linings, a pocket on her right and the police emblem on the left. Underneath the vest and blue jumper is a black turtle neck. There is a pouch behind her, buckled with a black strap around the vest. She wears one orange fingerless glove line with black lining on her right hand. She wears white mid thigh high socks lined with orange and orange ankle high shoes with black linings and laces. Unlike Tasuku, the girl bares an orange hat similar to Stella with the police force emblem on it. She does NOT have shoulder plates of guards like the boy.

Bio: A girl who has dissociative identity disorder (DID) or simply known as split personalities. She received this disorder at a young age for being mistreated by the students at school (not Aibo). She has been home schooled every since then and Kuromi tends to take control whenever she feels like it. Her brother is deceased, never being able to meet him. Kiyoko has mastered the control over Kuromi and can switch off with her other self anytime. She usually switches to Kuromi when things get bad or when she loses control. Her lessons begin when her mom comes home from work at the flower shop. Her dad is an engineer that works 24/7 everyday. Kiyoko decided to join the police force to calm and pleasure Kuromi's urges to threaten others. The girl helps the police force as Kiyoko when it's a simple task of capturing a criminal. Kuromi comes in when the task gets dangerous.

Likes:  
*Kiyoko: helping others, flowers, music, dancing, her friends and family, animals, the police force and her job, jelly  
*Kuromi: threatening others, beating up criminals, challenges and dangerous acts, weapons (preferably guns)

Dislikes:  
*Kiyoko: being mistreated, hurting others, watching others get hurt, threats, mindless idiots, those who are against her, criminals, people who argue without a specific reason  
*Kuromi: Cutesy or girly stuff, those who threaten her instead of the opposite, those who are better than her at something, things that are too overfriendly, criminals, obnoxiously loud people

Relationship/Connections: Yukimura Tidus(father), Yukimura Usako(mother), Yukimura Uryuu(brother; deceased), Police Force(colleagues/friends), Mikado Gao(close friend), Uki Kuguru(friend), Omori Baku(friend), Ryuenji Tasuku(Partner in crime/close friend),Hyoryu Kiri(friend), Kurodake Tetsuya(friend), Fujimiya Kazane(friend)

Deck(s): Divine Spell Casters

Line: "Mirror, mirror anddddd…. abra cadabra! Destroy those who block our way, my Divine Spell Casters! Luminize!"

Buddy Monster: Witch of Destruction, Hearty the Devastator  
Type- Monster  
Power- 6000  
Defense- 6000  
Critical- 2

Alias: Hearty

Personality: Dark and very mischievous. She decided to become Kiyoko's buddy because of her split personality counterpart, Kuromi. Normally plays pranks on others like making objects float across an empty room or pouring buckets of water on people. Cares greatly for her buddy, both Kiyoko and Kuromi.

Likes: playing tricks, relaxing, being free to do anything, her buddy (mostly as Kuromi)

Dislikes: Being in her miniature form because she thinks it's shameful and ridiculous, criminals, those who despise her

Size 1:  
Dragowizard, Qinus Axia x1  
Magic Knight of Light, Licht x2  
Mage disciple Rody x1  
Healing Hand of Wind, Lispel x2  
Black Demon Swordsman, Jace x1

Size 2:  
Dance Magician, Albrecht x1  
Liar, Fullfool x2  
Witch of Mischief, Iris the Trickerx1  
Center of the World, Mary Sue x2  
Evil Spirit Leader, Kimaris x2

Size 3:  
Witch of Destruction, Hearty the Devastator x3  
Demon Programmer, Marbas x1

Spells:  
Transflame x2  
Magical Goodbye x2  
Key of Solomon, Second Volume x3  
Abra Cadabra! X2  
Solomon's Shield x3  
Great Spell, My Grandfather Clock x1  
Speed Summon x2  
Nice One! X2

Item:  
Magic Arm, Burning Fist x1  
Gunrod, Stradivarius x2

Impact:  
De Guaita Crush Knuckle! X1

**She's not though. Um, my friend on Wattpad wanted to add my OC into her buddyfight fanfic, but she didn't want to use Suzuki Yuna. ^^ So, I designed Kiyoko(Kuromi) and her profile last minute before I slept. I usually don't like making multiple OCs in one anime or game series, don't know why, I just don't. But this is an exception if it's what my friend wanted. Maybe I could use her for like HunterxHunter or something... I just started watching that anime, hehehe -shame- Anyways, brief profile for a cross over series, I guess. -shrug- Might as well use her for another anime series since her appearance and stuff like that are already created. **

**NOTE: Other than that, here's her bio for Hunter x Hunter, the anime she'll be representing for.**

Name: Yukimura Kiyoko

Kiyoko means pure child, Kuromi means dark beauty, and Yukimura means snowy village

Characters: 雪村 清子(暗美)

Nickname: Kuro (as Kuromi), Kiyo (as Kiyoko)

Alias/Stage Name: Yukimura Kuromi

Age: 16

Gender: Female

Birth date: December 21

Height: 168 cm; 5'5.5"

Weight: 53 kg; 115.6 lbs

Blood Type: B

Weapon of Choice: Wooden Staff, Calligraphy Brush once she learns nen

Nen Type: Manipulation(Kiyoko),Transmutation(Kuromi)

Affiliation: Hunters Association

Occupation: Beast Hunters

Personality:  
*As Kiyoko, she is very friendly and bubbly to others. She enjoys making new friends and helping others in need. It is hard to see Kiyoko lose control over her sanity unless she gets really nervous or scared, leaving her mind very vulnerable. The outgoing side of her stands out more than her evil self. She speaks calmly and her voice is usually filled with light as Kiyoko.  
*As Kuromi, she is the total opposite and is very hostile towards others. Her voice sounds harsher and sharper as Kuromi, making her sound mischievous and evil. Kuromi enjoys fighting others and violence. She will snap when an impolite person is posing as a formal person or when other people are impolite to her and Kiyoko.

Appearance:  
*Kiyoko has straight bangs in the center of her head. Her left fringe is braided and tucked behind her ear and lock of hair. The rest of her bangs on the right is tucked behind her ear and lock of hair, similar to the left. She has fair skin and her hair color is lavender. Kiyoko's eyes are amber (leaning over more on orange than red or yellow) and her eye shape is round and not too sharp. The girl wear's a loose pale/cloudy periwinkle shirt that looks like a short dress with a square collar that's slit in the middle, visible black straps underneath the shirt. The ribbon on her shirt is royal blue while the rose connected to the ribbon is crimson red. The baggy capris she wears reach an inch below her knees and are pale golden in color. Kiyoko wears white ankle socks matched with periwinkle and white sneakers, the lines and flap on her shoes being periwinkle. She has 3 white hidden clips holding her braids together. When Kuromi kicks in, her lavender hair his tipped with red with a hint of rose pink and her amber eyes change colors to a deep scarlet. Kuromi's eyes are now sharper and her pupil looks more like slits. Her hair is a little messier than her other self, Kiyoko.

*As a Lynith, a rabbit-lynx creature, she has pure white fur and teal-maroon eyes shaped like a rabbit's. Her long tail is quite furry, but not as furry as a wolf's; forming a sharp scythe-shape at the end of it. She's as big and thin as a cheetah and bares sharp claws. Kiyoko(Kuromi) Has long fluffy rabbit ears that doesn't droop downwards and long furry muzzles and chest fur.

Bio: A girl who has dissociative identity disorder (DID) or simply known as split personalities. She received this disorder at a young age for being mistreated by others on Whale Island. She has been cooped up at home and on the fields of the house ever since then and Kuromi tends to take control whenever she feels like it. Her brother is deceased, never being able to meet him. Kiyoko has mastered the control over Kuromi and can switch off with her other self anytime. She usually switches to Kuromi when things get bad or when she loses control (an example would be when she gets nervous). Her wooden staff was crafted by her mom. Her dad rarely has time to visit the family, being a hunter himself. Kiyoko decided to take the hunters exam to calm and pleasure Kuromi's urges to threaten others. Kiyoko will tend to be in control of herself when things are simple and not too dangerous to handle. Kuromi comes in when the tests starts to get dangerous. The girl decided to become a beast hunter even though her counter wanted to take on as a blacklist hunter, only to get her request declined by Kiyoko.

Likes:

*Kiyoko: helping others, flowers, music, dancing, her friends and family, animals, seeing smiles, Kurapika

*Kuromi: threatening others, challenges and dangerous acts, weapons, fights

Dislikes:

*Kiyoko: being mistreated, hurting others, watching others get hurt, threats, mindless idiots, those who are against her, people who argue without a specific reason, Hisoka, Illumi Zoldyck

*Kuromi: Cutesy or girly stuff, those who threaten her instead of the opposite, those who are better than her at something, things that are too overfriendly, obnoxiously loud people, Hisoka, Illumi Zoldyck

Relationship/Connections:

Gon Freecss(friend), Leorio Paradinight(friend), Killua Zoldyck(friend), Kurapika(friend/interest), Yukimura Tidus(father), Yukimura Usako(mother), Yukimura Uryuu(brother; deceased)

Abilities:  
-Proficiency in close combat and wielding her wooden staff skillfully  
-The ability to turn into a Lynith; a rabbit-lynx creature  
-Ability to jump abnormally high and fast reflexes  
-Enhanced agility  
-Master in the usage of her brush. Without it, Kiyoko can't manipulate anything or anyone, but ink and Kuromi can't summon her ink beasts. Unfortunately, her brush is not conjugated.

Nen Abilities:

-Both personals are able to remove and control ink without their brush, not being able to attack. A snap of their fingers allows them to remove the ink in an instant.

*Kiyoko:  
-Puppeteer's Strings: Allows Kiyoko to control people and objects with her calligraphy brush just by drawing characters in the air at her victim. She has a time limit of 3 hours to control her victim, 3 hour each things she manipulate if at the same time, and can gain control from 23-25 meters far. Kiyoko is able to see what her victim is seeing when she gains control. She is able to control certain weighed things and she can't control inanimate objects stuck to the ground; it can't be too heavy or her aura would be drained completely. If her victim is too heavy or big, she can't control another item if she's already manipulating the big victim. She can alternate between her preys, controlling one victim and passing to the next. If she passes onto a new victim, her time limit does not reset.

+If she draws the Japanese character for 'silence' in the air or a plain line on a human's body, she can manipulate a person's speech. Snapping her fingers allow her to mute or amplify the person again whenever she wants to. Kiyoko can cut a person's sentence off with a swing of her brush as if the word had been erased from a writing. Her time limit is shorter than the actual time limit to control something; 30 minutes. It's difficult to break free from the manipulation, but it possible.

+If she draws the Japanese character for 'control', she can control an object or a human, multiple if the items or creatures are light and small enough. Their movements would be slightly different since it's a little more complicated to control multiple things than one. If she is controlling items like feathers or flower petals, she can create a storm with it, the objects becoming sharper because of the speed it's going at. The person or people she control may communicate to others, but can't mention a thing about the threads. Once her control is up, they would forget what had happened. The way to move the victim is by swiping her brush in certain ways. An ink puppeteer's hand holding a control and connected by ink threads is present above the controlled victim or item, hidden by gyo.

+If she draws the Japanese character for 'rule', she can knock out a creature or human and control them when they're unconscious. Their eyes will become lifeless and dull. Their unconscious state makes things a lot easier for Kiyoko to do her business and she can communicate through those people she's controlling. The way to move the victim is by swiping her brush in certain ways. An ink puppeteer's hand holding a control and connected by ink threads is present above the controlled victim or item, hidden by gyo.

*Kuromi:  
-Beast's Dimension: Allows Kuromi to summon different creatures just by drawing a line in the air and increasing her aura into that line for faster production. She can create any animal and multiple at once, but it drains a lot of energy from her. A certain creature has a certain ability like a wolf having high agility, a bear-fox having high defense, and dragon having the upper hand in aerial battle. If ink gets onto a target, Kuromi's creations can track them down. She is able to see what her creations are seeing. The ink is spread onto a person when the creature makes contact with the target or when the creature suddenly explodes at close range. Kuromi doesn't need to swing her brush or anything fancy to control her creations. The ink being spread is hidden by gyo.

-Shadow's Call: When Kuromi draws on the ground she is able to trap people in one spot to delay their movements for a brief moment. One the organism sets foot into the hidden trap, the ink would activate and trap the victim(s) with ink thread. It is possible to break free, but may be difficult. The trap is hidden by gyo.


	2. Chapter 1

Light pattering footsteps were heard as bright, cloudy periwinkle and white shoes picked up from the dusty ground and made contact with it once again, continuing in a rhythm.

_'pata pata pata….'_

Mid-back length lavender hair fluttering in the wind along with a bright, cloudy periwinkle colored dress length shirt with a long royal blue ribbon across the waist; attached to it, an out of place crimson red rose, that reaches above mid-thigh. Her straight bangs slightly swept to the left in the center of her face while the fringe of her remaining bangs on the left was braided and tucked behind her ear and lock of hair, secretly secured by three white clips; the right side similar to the left, just without the braid and clips. Every step she took, her pale golden baggy capris would brush against each other, pulling it up over her knees and dropping it back to its original place. The 16 year old girl, Yukimura Kiyoko, took a look around her surroundings and studied the environment for a while as she was heading over to a certain ship port.

"I-IT'S A POISONOUS SPIDER!" Kiyoko heard a male voice yell nearby.

The girl curiously looked over to her right to see a diner ahead of her and noticed that everyone was backing away from a blonde haired boy and a palm sized spider.

"CAREFUL AND DON'T MOVE A MUSCLE! IF YOU MOVE, IT'LL GET YOU!" the waiter warned the boy, fear coating his voice.

The 17 year old boy clad in mainly blue, red, and white stared at everyone blankly and slowly fixed his gaze on the spider inching closer to his left hand every step it took. Kiyoko flinched when his eyes altered from brown to a beautiful, but frightening looking scarlet when he took sight of the spider. Quickly stabbing the spider with the fork in his grasp, the boy threw the silverware unintentionally at the girl with one swift arm motion, unaware of whom it may hit. The girl's amber colored eyes immediately widened when she caught sight of the flying fork that contained the enormous dangerous creature called a spider heading towards her and immediately ducked when the fork was only a few inches away from her face. Kiyoko's fair colored face went pale when she looked behind her and saw the live spider crawling away from the weapon unharmed and turned back to see the boy casually eating his food as if nothing happened, eyes back to being brown.

'….. D-did his eyes just change colors? What just happened?' the girl thought hesitantly.

The boy glanced over at Kiyoko's area and found her fuming at herself about what just happened and looked away.

'Crazy girl..' he thought.

"Man, all that running around made me hungry!" a voice suddenly grumbled behind the girl.

Kiyoko looked over to her left to see a man in a dark blue suit with small round glasses and carrying a brief case, heading straight with a young boy clad in green and carrying a fishing pole just following him casually.

"STOP, THIEF!" one of the merchants nearby the diner yelled, running after the man who stole some food.

The formal suited man's stomach began to growl loudly.

"… My stomach is empty right now.. That stand over there is also empty right now… so don't mind if I do!" the man said, grabbing some fish and holding them against his briefcase.

"This is it! So long, kid!" he exclaimed with his mouth full, everyone's attention now fixed onto him and muttering something to each other.

'…. That bastard ought to learn some manner since he's dressed so formally and crap,' a harsh and clean voice suddenly said.

'Kuromi, you better not take control now. It's not worth trying to talk him out of this by the looks of it,' Kiyoko thought to herself, answering her second personal.

'That guy over there sure has guts to throw that fork at you too! They both need to learn how to respect!'

Kiyoko mentally sighed to herself as her opposite ignored her first thought.

'You really want to be the one in control now, don't you..? Tell you what, I'll switch with you, but don't do anything ridiculous and head straight to the ship we need to board.'

Kiyoko felt a smirk trying to spread across her face after deciding to switch in with her opposite as she brushed off her clothes and picked up her adjustable wooden staff she dropped when she dodged the fork. The tip of the girl's lavender hair slowly melted into a rosy pink and red color as it got messier, her eyes got sharper and colder, pupils changing to something like slits and the irises turning into a deep red-orange color.

'Oh don't worry, Kiyoko. I'll just keep walking until a douche bag decides to take action first,' Kuromi replied as she gave an evil smirk, tucking the staff into the ribbon at her waist.

The warm-hearted girl, suddenly turn cold, looked at her right hand; closed it into a fist and opened it back up twice, dropping it back to her side.

'You better not turn into that Lynith. I don't want people looking at me weird,' Kiyoko warned.

'It's not like they made contact with a Lynith before. In fact, out of everyone in this world, only a few have the ability to turn into some random rabbit-lynx creature,' Kuromi pointed out.

'That's the thing! IT'S LIKE A CURSE!' Kiyoko screamed mentally.

Kuromi closed her eyes in disappointment, a small frown crossing her face as she continued on her path.

"Hey there, young lady! Are you lost of something? Tell you what, why don't you come with me and tell me where you're heading to?" a man with a smug look on his face asked.

Kuromi ignored the said man and walked right past him as if he wasn't there. The man's creepy smile faltered as she breezed by him, making him grab her arm and stopping her from going any further by force.

"I can take you to where you are heading, dear, so tell me away!" he offered one more time, gripping her wrist tighter.

'Hey, Kiyoko. Can I beat the crap out of this guy?' she asked in a pissed off manner.

'… Go ahead. He gives me chills, honestly,' Kiyoko replied.

Kuromi's head was hung low, hair shadowing her face as she stood at her spot in a relaxed manner. She began to let a mischievous smirk cross her face, a brief view of sharp canine teeth showing.

"Hey, old man, let go of my wrist or else…" the girl threatened with a sharp tone.

The man raised an eyebrow curiously at her threats, not taking it seriously.

"Don't worry, sweetie. It's not like I'll try to-"

The stranger was suddenly interrupted when Kuromi's heel made contact with his stomach; a lot of force from her backswing, his grip loosening around her wrist. Kuromi threw her arm in a downward motion and made the man collapse onto the floor as he held onto his stomach painfully.

"I did warn you, didn't I?" the opposite asked as she leered at the sight before her.

Kuromi took out the adjustable staff and extended it to its fullest, twirling it as the man replied in an irked manner.

"You little-"

Kuromi swung the staff hard onto the man's face with her right hand as she shifted from one leg to the other and set her left hand on her hip, right arm extended before her and pointed at the vulnerable man, grinning a wide sadistic grin.

"Shut it or I'll rip your mouth off."

The girl pulled the staff away and allowed it to decline back into the size of a wand as the man shut his trap and peed a little, tucking it back into the ribbon around her waist behind the rose, walking away casually as she pulled her hair to the front and over her left shoulder.

'Pathetic,' she muttered in a corrupted manner, extending her left arm out as her fingers brushed the stands of hair and allowed it to fall into place.

'I have to agree with you on that.. Even I could've hit him like that, just with weaker power..' Kiyoko added in.

"Welcome, young lady! Are you here to take on the 287th hunter exam?" the captain of the ship asked, heartily.

Kuromi stared at the round man with disinterest written all over her face as her eyes and hair returned to normal. The girl suddenly gave a bright smile to the captain and nodded as if nothing happened.

"Yes, I am! May I board this ship to proceed?" Kiyoko asked.

The captain smiled at her enthusiasm, unaware of the sudden appearance change.

"Of course you can! Just be sure to get ready for the exam, it'll be a tough one!"

Kiyoko's eyes brightened up as she leaned in a little.

"Alright! Thank you, sir!" she said as she ran on board and waved.

The girl entered the deck and looked around, awe struck by the surroundings around her.

'My first time on a boat… This seems quite exciting!' she thought.

'Exciting? On this rocking rubbish? Kiyoko, I don't understand you sometimes..' Kuromi replied boredly.

'Well, that's you. This is me. We may be the same person, but we are completely different, thoughts and personality wise.'

Kuromi clicked her tongue and gave an irritated answer back to herself.

'I sure wish I had a body of my own….'

Kiyoko frowned and closed her eyes to relax and calm down a little from the statement.

'And I sure wish I never had this problem with you!'

The same boy from the diner suddenly set foot onto the ship when Kiyoko opened up her eyes, bright shining amber meeting dull brown eyes.

'Oh great. It's Mr. Good Looks again. Give him a smacking for almost stabbing us with a spider-attached fork, unless you want me to do it.'

Kiyoko looked away from the boy, feeling a little nervous under his harsh gaze.

'I rather not… I feel like he's glaring at me for unknown reasons….' Kiyoko squeaked.

'… It's that same girl at the diner..' he thought finally moving away from the board at the dock.

'Right, I almost hit her with the fork when I stabbed and flung that spider….' the boy muttered as he walked over to the main mast and sat down, leaning against it.

Kiyoko, who was also already standing near the mast, slowly scanned around the area to find a place far away from the boy, spotting an empty space at the forecastle deck. The girl began to walk away from the area she stood and away from the boy only to feel his cat-like eyes burning through her skull, making her slow down her steps involuntarily.

"Hey. You. The girl with the lavender hair," he called out stiffly.

Kiyoko completely stopped in her tracks and glanced over her shoulder nervously.

'Well, we are the only girls here right now, genius…' Kuromi said, annoyed.

"Y-yes? May I help you?" Kiyoko answered him hesitatingly.

An awkward silence passed by the two as the sea continued to crash onto everything in its way, the boy around her age trying to study her.

"There is nothing for you to help me with," he finally answered, attitude not changing one bit.

'I don't like his attitude,' Kuromi complained.

"O-oh alright then….." the nervous girl answered awkwardly, beginning to walk away again.

".. Sorry."

Kiyoko stopped again, this time fully turning her body to face the boy.

"… Excuse me? For what?" she replied stupidly.

The boy frowned and sharpened his eyes at her face, focusing on her eyes.

"What else is there to apologize for? I meant the fork and spider incident," he answered, practically glaring at the girl when he mentioned 'spider'.

'Right.. Sorry.. And it's fine really…' Kiyoko muttered embarrassedly as she tried to hide her last question.

'It was so not alright! If that hit you, you would've been injured and that would mean I would've been injured too!' Kuromi said, enraged at her goody-goody self.

Kiyoko began to lose control over her own body as her negative side tried to reveal herself, only successfully taking over her right eye and her mouth; half of her hair tipped with red and a scowl coming upon her face. The boy took notice of the change in the girl's expression and mood, her right eye being a lot darker and sharper than her left, glaring at him ruthlessly as if someone was possessing Kiyoko's body. The boy's face expression remained the same as he began to wonder what was going on with the girl's appearance, Kiyoko finally gaining control again. The girl covered up her face and frowned into her hand, muttering something underneath her breath.

"... Anyways... That's all I wanted to say," the boy suddenly said.

Kiyoko perked up at his voice and removed her hand, giving a nervous grin.

"Ahh, right! Okay.. It's fine though, really," she said, waving at the boy and excusing his apology.

The boy nodded and began to read a book he brought along with him, turning a blind eye on the strange girl.

"Alright, you bags of bones! Let's set sail, off to the exam sight!" the captain suddenly announced as the ship slowly took off, the ship's gong being played.

"W-WAIT FOR US! WE'RE HERE TO TAKE THE EXAM TOO!" a young boy's voice sounded.

Kiyoko looked over to see the same two guys near the diner running towards the moving ship, waving their arms frantically.

"Too bad, boys, but you're going to have to find a way on board! I'm not turning this ship back for two mere applicants!" the captain responded.

"Have fun swimming on board, haha! It'll be impossible!" an applicant said.

The two boys said something to each other and suddenly turned to an utterly different direction towards a cliff.

'Hm? Are they going to try and jump on board or actually swim?' Kiyoko thought as an image appeared in her head, making her a little frightened at the possible results.

The young spiky haired boy took his fishing rod from behind his back and wielded the item skillfully, snagging at an immobile boulder securely and swinging off the cliff with the older man clinging onto him for dear life.

"A-AHHHHH!"

The two flung themselves across the ocean and made contact with the white sail as the fishing line unlatched its clasp on the boulder, every man, except for the captain, the strange boy, and Kiyoko, on board having a shocked expression displayed on their poor faces.

"Are you okay, mister?" he asked with concern.

"Oww. It's Leorio-san, not just mister to you!" he exclaimed with his face pressed up against his brief case and butt up in the air.

The young boy gave him a cheeky grin as they stood up from where they were, attention slowly dying down.

'This year's challengers may not be so lanky after all..' the captain told himself, staring at the two boys.

The young boy turned his body fully to look at the disappearing island as the boat added the distance between them.

"Good bye, Whale Island. I'll come back as the best full fledge hunter before you know it!" he exclaimed as he waved.

"The best hunter? Yeah right! Are you looking down on us, kid?" one of the passengers said mockingly.

"Every single year, millions of skilled applicants take on this exam and only handfuls are selected. Don't go saying stuff you can't backup!" another supported.

Kiyoko remained quiet and watched the scene unfold before her, studying all the passengers on the ship.

"Hi, miss!" a young voice suddenly chimed.

Kiyoko jumped and looked over next to her to see the young lad standing next to her, both hands clutching at his yellow and brown backpack straps. The girl let out a sigh and faced the boy, locking her hands together behind her back.

"Don't scare me like that, please. Hello, is there something I can help you with?" Kiyoko answered giving a warm smile to the young boy.

The boy stuck out his tongue playfully and winked.

"Sorry about that! Are you here for the hunter exam too?" the boy continued.

Kiyoko's smiling face was replaced by a confused expression as she nodded at the boy's question.

"Yes, I am. It's my first time, so I don't know if I can help you with anything.." she replied.

The boy's smile grew wider as he leaned forward and balanced on his heels.

"It's alright! It's my first time too and I'm really excited about this, my blood is pumping quickly!" he exclaimed.

"Want to stick together during the exam?" he suddenly asked.

'Tch,' Kuromi suddenly clicked.

'What is it, Kuromi?'

Kiyoko put a finger up to her chin and thought for a few seconds, the blond boy and black haired man with glasses looking over at the two.

'This kid's energy is starting to piss me off…'

Kiyoko sighed and glared mentally at her other self.

'Don't be rude. He's just a little boy.'

"Sure, if you want, I guess," Kiyoko answered nervously.

The boy with the book glared at the newly formed duo as his grip on his book tightened, crushing the pages between the hard covered book.

"You're never going to be a decent sailor at this rate, Katsuo!" a voice exclaimed, laughing with another male voice as a scrawny sailor with a bandanna tied on his head picked up the green apples on deck.

The man named Katsuo began to stand up, trying to pick up the crate before him only to get his rear kicked by the man behind him, making him drop more apples. The two sailors around the poor man began to laugh and insult him some more, the captain yelling at them.

"You losers! Don't you slack off!"

"A-aye, sir!" the two indecent people exclaimed, running away.

"Hm? Didn't you hear me!? Move that crate!"

Katsuo jumped and picked up the heavy crate before scrambling off to the other side of the ship.

"Wait!" the young boy suddenly called as he flashed an excluded apple and tossed it to the man.

"Ah, thanks!"

The dark green, almost black, haired boy stopped smiling and looked at the seagulls in the sky.

"… A storm is heading this way.." he told the captain.

"How do you know that, boy?"

He suddenly pointed at the group seagulls and sniffed the air.

"That's what the seagulls are saying…"

The boy leaped all the way up to the top of the main mast to smell the air again.

"A huge storm is coming!" he announced.

The captain's eyes widened as a thought came to mind.

"Listen everyone, bring the sails down!" he said, earning a response from his crew.

Everyone got to work immediately after the order was sent as the man in the suit named Leorio, Kiyoto, and the youngest boy watched them work, the boy that had his book in his hand ignoring everything. A bucket suddenly flew over the long blue flag out of nowhere, causing Leorio to scream ridiculously loud and high-pitched as it made contact with his face and breaking to pieces. Three wooden boards shot at the blond boy who was now closing his eyes and crossing his arms across his chest after the contact, leaning side to side and slumping down a little to dodge each board.

'Hmph! Thinks he's really good and all now does he?' Kuromi huffed furiously.

'Kuromi…. Calm down. He's already apologized-'

'In an ill-mannered way!' the pissed off personal said, cutting off Kiyoko's thoughts.

'You're probably worse than him though,' Kiyoko countered.

The dangerous storm continued to sway the ship side to side violently as every passengers got seasick and was tumbling all over the place. Kiyoko was sitting at the same spot she was at in the cabin before the storm came as she watched the young green haired boy take care of the seasick. Slowly looking over at the person behind her, the boy lying in the tan hammock continued to read his book with a bored expression and glanced over at the girl silently. The captain slowly opened the door to the cabin as he found everyone piling up with a sick face.

'These shrimps are the ones to take the hunters' exam? How pathetic… They couldn't even last a lousy ship ride, so how would they hold up in the exam?' he muttered disappointedly.

"W-waterrrr….." a candidate chocked out.

"Don't worry! Water is coming soon! In the meantime, chew on this herb to help your sickness," the young boy instructed.

The captain became impressed by the younger boy's efforts and kindness then looked around the room to see 3 others who appears to be fine, Kiyoko fiddling around with her ribbon on her waist and the boy behind her crossing his leg as he read the book.

'Oooh! This is one sour apple….' Leorio muttered after taking a bite from the green apple he held, his face expression twisting.

'Hm… So there are a few candidates with guts on board…'

"EXCUSE ME, SIR!" Katsuo exclaimed as he ran into the small room with a cup of water, catching the captain off balanced.

"Here's the water you've been waiting for!"

The younger boy grabbed the cup and smiled.

"Thanks! Here, you can drink the water you've been waiting for.." he said, helping the weak man drink his fill.

Everyone directed their attention at the young boy curiously as he gave back the cup to Katsuo and thanked him.

"Alright now… Tell me your names," the captain said after leading the four to the bridge of the ship.

"I'm Gon!" the youngest boy exclaimed happily.

"My name's Kurapika," the emotionless boy answered next.

"Leorio's the name…." the man said, not bothering to look at anything.

The girl hesitated as her other self tried to take control of her body again.

"I-I'm Kiyoko."

The captain didn't hesitate to ask the next question in his mind after their introductions.

"Why is it that you boys and girl of course, want to become hunters?"

Leorio's eyes popped open and frown at the old man, pointing angrily at him.

"Hey, old man! If you aren't one of the examiners, you can't boss us around!" he yelled.

"Answer the question!"

Gon stared at the man he followed around at Whale Island and then smiled at the captain to give his reply.

"My dad is a hunter. I left the island because I wanted to find out why dad was so dedicated to his work as a hunter!"

The captain lowered his eyes and thought intently at Gon's response.

'Dad? Hunter? So this boy's Ging's son…. It looks like that time has come,' the man thought, pulling his smoke pipe out of his mouth and sticking it back in.

"Kid! You're not supposed to answer his question!" Leorio hollered.

"Huh? Why not?"

"Don't work well with others, eh? I rather not reveal the reason why I'm here," Leorio told everyone, poking at Gon's forehead.

"I agree with Leorio," a different voice suddenly joined.

"Huh. H-HEY, AREN'T YOU YOUNGER THAN ME? SHOW ME SOME RESPECT!" the man yelled pointing at Kurapika.

Kiyoko sighed and brought a hand up to her face tiredly, deciding to stay quiet until she needs to speak up.

"It's actually simple to avoid answering such questions by giving a simple conceivable lie," he continued, ignoring the older man.

"ARE YOU EVEN TRYING TO LISTEN TO ME, KID?!" Leorio yelled, enraged at Kurapika's attitude.

'I told you I can't stand him!' Kuromi told her counterpart, trying to take over.

'Not now, Kuromi! It's not time!' Kiyoko told herself.

"Nonetheless, it is thoroughly dishonorable to depend on those deceptions."

'Hmph! Know-it-all!' Kuromi exclaimed angrily.

"And with that, I am to you the certainty of my fact, I would be revealing my private affairs to you all. That's the reason why I can't pledge to you a simple answer,' the boy finally concluded, clutching at his tabard and closing his eyes shut.

"Quite ignoring me!" Leorio yelled, pointing at Kurapika at the beat of each word coming out of his mouth.

"Alright then. To make this clearer, if you turn down my question… Katsuo."

Katsuo looked over at the captain once he was called.

"Aye, captain," he responded.

"Contact the examination board and confirm to them we have two more dropped out candidates," the captain said, receiving full attention from the two stubborn boys.

"By the looks of your face, you haven't suspected it yet, haven't you? The exam has already commenced."

Their confused face was swapped with a shocked and worried face expression as the captain continued to explain.

"Take it this way; there are just as many hunter wannabes as there are stars in the night sky. The examiners don't have the sufficient amount of time to go through it all which is why people like us are hired to cut down the numbers. The board has already been informed about everyone else on this ship dropping out. They couldn't handle this little storm, so it'd be impossible for them to even attempt this exam which also means you get to the real deal IF I allow you to proceed," the man finished as he pulled the pipe back out of his mouth. "Now, think about my question attentively before you answer it."

Everyone went quiet, Gon suddenly concluding the man's reasons.

"And so he said."

Leorio growled at the boy's statement.

"If only that was announced earlier…"

"Young lady, you haven't said anything yet. Why is it that you strive to be a hunter?" Kiyoko jumped and looked around nervously.

"W-well, I…. I'm aiming to be a hunter because I.. need to… satisfy my other self….." Kiyoko replied, looking away and poking her fingers together.

"Hm?"

The people in the room looked over at the girl curiously.

"What do you mean by 'other self', Kiyoko?" the man proceeded to ask.

Kiyoko hesitated and left her mind vulnerable, immediately losing control of half of her body, her right eye growing sharper and turning back to that same deep scarlet color and half of her hair getting messier, being tipped with a rosy pink and red color.

"Well, well, well…." her voice suddenly turning cold.

Everyone suddenly jumped at the tweak in her attitude and backed away a bit, Leorio dragging Gon away from the girl.

"I-I told you to stay away already!" Kiyoko exclaimed, her left eye glowing with concern.

"Kiyoko, you are too vulnerable when you get nervous. No wonder I rarely have trouble taking over and you always switch places with me when you get into trouble~!" Kuromi said excitedly, her right eye clouding up.

Kiyoko's eye suddenly widened and completely changed to Kuromi's appearance, hair fully tipped off. Kuromi's glower was suddenly concentrated at Leorio and Kurapika as she reached for her staff.

"And looky here.. The boy who nearly injured us two and the discourteous man," Kuromi pointed out, Kurapika glaring at the negative girl and Leorio backing up slowly in a frightened way.

"I'll knock both of you fools unconscious, especially YOU, Cat-Eyes!" the girl said, swinging the extended staff at the two.

Kiyoko suddenly took control over herself again and stopped the staff from making contact with Kurapika's face, dropping to the floor on her knees.

"D-DON'T YOU DARE, KUROMI!" the considerate girl struggled to yell at herself, throwing her staff onto the floor away from her possession and clutching her arms tightly with Gon kneeling by her side.

'Kuromi…?' the captain muttered.

Finally calming down from Kuromi's sudden advantage, Kiyoko sat on the floor with her knees brought up to her chest.

"So, that Kuromi person.. Is it an act or is there really another person in you?" the captain asked cautiously.

Kiyoko looked up at everyone apologetically, bringing her knees closer to her.

"Sir, it wasn't an act. If you've noticed, the atmosphere around her changed. Her eye color and face expression changed completely, her voice got harsher and a lot colder than usual, and her hair got messier, coloring the ends of her hair a pink and red color," Kurapika pointed out as he eyed the girl suspiciously.

"…. I have a split personality disorder… The real me is here right now and taking control, Kiyoko, and my other self, Kuromi, is under my mind's control right now. I'm sorry about Kuro's threats and action, Kurapika-kun, Leorio-san…." the girl apologized looking down at her hands.

Kurapika sighed and went to pick up the girl's shrunken staff, studying it as he headed over to where she sat.

"Is it just me or did the length of this stick change?" Leorio pointed out confusedly.

"It did.. It's a staff that can extend to a certain length and decline back to the length of a wand," Kiyoko answered, accepting her wand from the boy.

"B-besides that… I'm very sorry about my control!"

Gon stared at the girl for a while and gave his usual grin.

"It's okay, Kiyoko! It wasn't your fault anyways!" he reassured her.

* * *

**I actually JUST STARTED reading/watching Hunter x Hunter.. It's interesting I guess, hehe. Anyways, I sprained my wrist from volleyball and will be resting for a bit. I might be able to finish typing my other Fanfic(s) with one hand, but it'll be very slow. It's interesting to compare HxH 1999 with HxH2011. xD -le sigh- I don't know when I'll ever update this, but we'll seeeee.**

_**~stormy003 **_


	3. Chapter 2

Kiyoko continued to stare at her feet aimlessly, fiddling with the black straps that were falling off her shoulders underneath her long shirt. Gon hesitated to find a way to get the girl's mood back up while the other two boys explained their reasons of why they wanted to be hunters.

"I'm the very last survivor of the Kurta clan," Kurapika, out of nowhere, stated blandly.

"Hm?" the group hummed.

Kiyoko lowered her head as a pang of heavy guilt weighed her chest down, making it harder for her to breathe and to face the boy. The boy lowered his sight to the ground before him as he paused in between a little, glancing over at the girl for a bit.

"Four years ago, my entire clan was wiped out by a group of thieving criminals. I wish to become a hunter to hunt down that band, the Phantom Troupe," the boy said, his voice sounding firm as he looked up into the captain's eyes.

"…. So, you wish to become.. a bounty hunter? That group of people, the Phantom Troupe, is a Class-A bounty. Not even the toughest hunters can lay a finger on them. That means you'd be throwing your one only life away, boy," the captain told the serious Kurta.

"I won't run away from death for I do not fear it," the boy answered immediately, irritatingly closing his eyes. "I only fear that my rage….. will only fade over time."

Kiyoko looked up in time to see his eyes flash that same scarlet color filled with rage she saw before, having an urge to back up away from him, but instead sat there and stared. Gon had a worried look on his face when he saw Kiyoko's face color drain a little and began to shake her little.

"Are you alright, Kiyoko?"

The girl slowly nodded at the question, not bothering to take her sight off the revenge craving boy in front of her.

"So, to make this simpler and shorter, you seek revenge. Does that really demand you to take on the role of a hunter?" Leorio asked with a scoff in his voice.

"Your questions may have been the most idiotic questions I've ever heard, Leorio," the boy shot back calmly but surely sounding very irritated.

The man's face expression immediately changed when his name was said in rude manner once again by that same person.

"IT'S LEORIO-SAN TO YOU, KID!"

"Places that are available to hunters only.. Information, as an alternative, unattainable…"

Leorio began to frown at the indifferently brilliant boy, trying hard not to crack like a vase and spill out his anger.

"Actions other than that, impractical….. There are multiple objectives your brain could very likely contain," Kurapika finished, Leorio finally letting out steam as he began to holler.

"HEY!"

'That boy got nerves to direct insults to people,' Kuromi admitted as she huffed out disappointment.

Gon stuck his hand in front of the man's face before an argument started, ignorantly asking the same question the captain asked everyone.

"Why is it that you want to become a hunter, Leorio-san?"

His enraged face suddenly perked up into a smug look.

"Me? I'll make it short…. Money. I want money!" he exclaimed crazily as he rose up his arms high into the air.

"Money can get you everything you desire! A big house! A nice and perfect car! Good liquor!" he listed as he pretended to take a shot of a drink.

"HAAAA…!"

Leorio's dreams and reasoning was interrupted once again by the Kurta boy once he let out the satisfied sounding sigh.

"You can't afford class with that so-called money, Leorio."

The man stayed in his position for a few seconds with a satisfied smile on his face, immediately frowning at the statement as his face turned to a deep red. Leorio slowly turned his head back behind him to look directly at the boy that had his eyes closed, arms cross together.

"That's the last time you're going to say that. Step outside. I'll end that vulgar Kurta bloodline of yours right here, right now," he grumbled angrily as he walked away.

Kurapika's eyes shot open at the insult the older man gave him, Kiyoko doing the same as she looked at them from one another.

"TAKE THAT BACK, LEORIO!" he exclaimed furiously. All concerns were now on the two, Leorio looking back casually at the younger boy who was now furious.

"Take it back, right now!"

Leorio continued to stare at the enraged Kurta boy with disinterest and stayed quiet for a few.

"That's Leorio-san to you," he answered coldly, turning back and walking out the door with Kurapika following behind angrily.

"You two boys! Get back here! I'm not finished yet!" the captain exclaimed.

Kiyoko looked at the doorway with concern written all over on her as the two disappeared around a corner, Gon suddenly responding.

"Let them be."

The remaining people of the group looked over to the young boy curiously as he began to remember something.

"Mito-san once told me.. It's important for them to know why they're mad at each other, so we should let them settle it by themselves, on their own will," he said, smiling his usual.

Kiyoko looked at the boy's passionate and confident looking face, knowing to trust his words and leaving them alone to calm down.

"C-Captain! L-look!" the sailor on the helm exclaimed, pointing at a waterspout.

Kiyoko stood up from where she was sitting at to see what the man was pointing at, a shocked face expression appearing right when she saw the natural storm coming.

"The ship will sink if we get caught in that!" Katsuo said.

"Go! Lower down the sails, now!" the captain ordered.

"A-AYE!"

Gon immediately looked over at the man saluting next to him.

"I'll help as well!" he offered with a serious look in his eyes.

Without any hesitation, the man accepted the young boy's offer and began running off.

"Alright, come with me!"

'H-huh?! A-are they going to be alright?' Kiyoko thought as the captain shoved the sailor in control of the ship away from the wheel.

'You worry too much… Who cares?' Kuromi said bluntly.

'I care, so be quiet!'

"I'll take over the helm. FULL TO STARBOARD!"

Kiyoko frowned at herself and ran outside after the last sailor left the bridge. The crew began to scatter outside in the storm to fulfill the order they received, pulling at the ropes of the sails.

"HURRY! IT'S GOING TO CATCH US SOON!"

The men kept tugging at the ropes as quickly as possible to lower the sails in the harsh storm as the other two, Kurapika and Leorio, stood on the far right, out of the sailors' way. Kiyoko stood at the doorway as she kept an eye out for everyone's safety, just in case If anything were to happen, paying close attention to every single person outside. The ocean water suddenly collapsed and crashed into the ship as Kurapika and Leorio continued to stand at their spots unfazed and intimidated by each other's faces.

"RETRACT WHAT YOU SAID!" Kurapika exclaimed in anger, swinging his arm out in front of him as his blue and red tabard continued to wave around violently in the wind. "TAKE IT BACK! WITHDRAW YOUR WORDS, AND I'LL FORGIVE YOU, LEORIO!"

The man furrowed his brows together at the boy's statement as his tie flew around in the wind; hands stuck into his pants pockets as he decided to yell back.

"HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO REPEAT MYSELF? GET THIS THROUGH YOUR THICK SKULL! You should show me some respect!" he said, slightly lowering his voice on his last sentence. "I WON'T YIELD TO YOU!"

The man pulled out a pocket knife as Kurapika exhaled a pissed off sounding sigh and reached behind his back to grab his linked bokken swords.

"I have no other choice…" he responded, hold out his weapons out in front of him.

The storm got stronger as the ship got closer and closer to the natural disaster. The wind began to push and pull the sailors around as they let go of the ropes once it began to whip, not wanting to get flung out of deck. The ship rocked back and forth roughly in the middle of the ocean, instantly fling Katsou who was still grabbing on the rope for dear life, away from the ship.

"Katsuo-san!" Gon yelled, Kiyoko, immediately, dashing forward to grab the man.

The girl reached out her right arm to grab Katsuo's hand, missing it about a few centimeters away.

"CRAP!" she exclaimed.

The crew watched the helpless man fly over towards the ocean as Kurapika and Leorio swiftly took action, running towards him and jumping off the side of the ship to grab him. The two weren't able to grab the man's hands in time and hung onto the railings of the ship with an arm as they cursed themselves.

"Damn it!" they both yelled as they helplessly watched him fall.

"…! G-GON! WHAT ARE YOU PLANNING TO DO?!" Kiyoko exclaimed as the young boy ran passed the girl and leapt off the boat, Kurapika and Leorio taken aback.

The girl ran over to where the four were clinging at, Gon successfully catching Katsuo's arms and getting his legs grabbed by the two who now forgotten about their little argument. Gon and Katsuo landed in the water, safely caught as Kiyoko held onto Kurapika and Leorio's arms tightly, seeing their grip slowly slip.

"Pull them out, now!" Leorio instructed as the two pulled out the drowning boys, the other sailors running over to help them out.

"You are one crazy boy!" Kiyoko exclaimed worriedly as the others helped her pull them back up.

* * *

The storm finally decided to lift up a moment later, showing the bright blue sky underneath the dark grey clouds.

"YOU IDIOT! IF WE DIDN'T GRAB YOUR LEGS, YOU WOULD BE SHARK BAIT ALONG WITH KATSUO BY NOW!" Leorio yelled at the young boy, pointing at him in a pissed off manner.

"N-now, now, guys!" Kiyoko said softly as she prompted them to calm down.

"Honestly.. Just how impulsive can you be?" Kurapika asked as he crossed his arms and closed his eyes, anger clearly shown in his voice.

"N-not you, too…" Kiyoko whined, getting ignored as she kneeled down next to Gon.

"….. But you did catch me, didn't you?" Gon asked innocently.

"Huh?" the three said in sync, looking at the boy curiously.

"Both of you caught me on cue!" Gon pointed out, a bright smile crossing his face.

Kurapika and Leorio stared at the boy with a stupid look slapped onto their faces, clearly not knowing what Gon was trying to tell them all.

"…. Well, I guess so…." Leorio said, finally catching on, Kurapika looking away.

"A-at least they're both safe right?" Kiyoko asked awkwardly.

'Kiyoko, you worry about these idiots too much," Kuromi said.

"Gon!"

Everyone looked over at Katsuo as he ran over to the small group on board.

"Katsuo-san!" Gon said, standing up from his spot.

"Thanks a lot, Gon! You saved my life!" he thanked the boy happily.

"Actually, I couldn't have done it by myself. These two over here helped save you," he told the man, looking at the two stubborn boys.

"Huh?" they both said in unison, Kiyoko softly giggling on the side.

"Thank you very much to all of you!" the man said, bowing down respectfully.

".. No need to thank me," Kurapika bluntly said, looking away from the man once again.

"...Well…. Yeah! I'm glad you're okay now," Leorio said, not even trying to hide his blush.

Kiyoko nodded in approval at everyone's reactions and looked back at Kurapika who was now staring at Leorio startled by his response.

"I'll be heading back to my station now!" Katsuo exclaimed, running off again as Kiyoko stood up and brushed her soaked clothes, pulling her wet hair back away from her face.

Kurapika looked at the smiling man next to him boringly and turned his head away with a smile on his face, catching Leorio off guard.

"….. What..?" he asked a suspicious look crossing his face.

"I apologize for my rude behavior from before. Sorry, Leorio-san," Kurapika said sympathetically, a smile finally forming on his face as little droplets fell from his hair.

".. W-wh-what's with the sudden change?" the man asked, blushing once again and not borthering to wipe his glasses.

"W-we sound like total strangers…. Just call me Leorio… That works fine with me.." Leorio said, waving his hand at the boy as his blush grew.

Kurapika closed his eyes slowly and tilted his chin down, a smile resting on his face.

"… I'm sorry as well."

The boy's eyes suddenly snapped open at the sudden apology.

"I take back every single thing I said. It was wrong for me to say that," Leorio said, a small smile on his face.

Gon and Kiyoko smiled at each other as the scene unfolds before them.

'Ughhh, this is way too warm and fluffy for me! Step away from them already!' Kuromi exclaimed disgustedly.

'Oh no, not at all, Kuromi. Besides, YOU need to apologize also!' Kiyoko ordered herself.

'Uhhh, no thank you.'

"No, it's fine," Kurapika answer the man.

The captain's laugh suddenly echoed around the atmosphere, causing the group to look over at the doorway to see him stand there and letting out a hearty laugh.

"I like you guys! OKAY, THEN! I'll take on the duty of bringing you guys to the port CLOSEST to the site of the hunters' exam, HA!" the captain said, waving a bottle of liquor before walking away.

"Really?" Gon asked as everyone started at the man obliviously.

"Then what about that test of yours?" Kurapika called after.

"Has it.. been decided..?" Kiyoko added in curiously.

"Like I said before… It is MY decision to make… AND YOU ALL PASSED!" he told them happily.

Every individual smiled at themselves satisfyingly, Gon jumping up high and shot a fist into the air.

"YAY!" the young boy exclaimed laughing.

"Kiyoko let out a soft sigh from holding her breath without knowing that she was and felt a sudden impact on her body.

"Uwah! Gon, don't tackle me!" she said, giggling at the young boy's excitement.

The child released her from his grip and smiled a bright smile, delighted to hear the news that everyone passed the very first test they got.

"Kuromi, I'm sure you have something to say to these two guys," Kiyoko said out of nowhere, catching the three boys' attentions.

Kiyoko immediately fully switched places with her counterpart without a second thought, her smile randomly dying down.

"Kiyoko, I already told you I'm not doing it!" the girl yelled.

'Yes you are. I won't let you roam around in my body anymore if you don't do this. Besides, I don't think they're actually bad people,' Kiyoko answered, only audible to Kuromi and herself.

Kuromi growled, showing her sharp teeth as she covered her eyes with her bangs; hair falling over her shoulders, Leorio backing up farther away from the changed girl.

'Fine…' she finally muttered angrily.

"Hey, you, Devil Cat," she said, looking at Kurapika as the atmosphere got intense.

The boy curiously pointed at himself and stared at the girl blankly.

"Yeah you, Blondie," she stated rudely. "You too, long-face."

Leorio looked at the girl and frowned angrily at the nicknames she gave the two. Kiyoko immediately switched back to herself, pulling her hair back and frowning at herself her mood suddenly being pissed.

"Kuromi, I WILL be keeping you from taking over like this forever. I won't even bother switching with you when we get into fights," the girl threatened, switching back to Kuromi.

"Okay, okay! Kurapika, Leorio, or whatever, I think those were your names, I'm SOR-RY" she said in rage, emphasizing 'sorry'.

Kiyoko took over again and bowed down respectfully to the two.

"Sorry about my counterpart's behavior, but yes, we apologize," Kiyoko said, a bright smile appearing on her face.

The two boys, a smiling Kurapika and a frightened Leorio, gave a knowing nod to the girl, accepting her apology from both as Kiyoko and Kuromi. Kurapika felt a small stab in his chest, remembering how he treated the sweet girl before all this happened, but slightly frowned at the idea of apologizing to both her AND Kuromi.

"Hey, Kiyoko. I'm also sorry about the way I treated you and, of course, the fork incident. Kuromi on the other hand… I'm not so sure if I did anything to her.." Kurapika said thoughtfully, clutching at his sopping talbard.

"Fork incident?" Leorio asked, Gon staring at the two oddly.

"Long story short, I stabbed a spider with a fork and threw it over to my left, not knowing if anyone would be there when I was eating," Kurapika told the group.

Kiyoko nodded and grinned.

"It's alright, really. I already accepted your apology for that incident anyways. It's a good thing that it wasn't Kuromi taking control at that time. She would've tried to strangle you right after like this," Kiyoko said, grabbing the boy's wrist and squeezing it a little, shaking it back and forth quickly.

The Kurta boy tried to imagine in his head how it was like to be strangled by Kuromi in such a way, just a lot more violent then how Kiyoko demonstrated.

"Looks like I got lucky then," the boy chuckled looking over at their hands.

Gon smiled a bright smile and eyed the two carefully as he squeezed some water out of his clothes, looking at Leorio who was glaring at the girl.

"If you want to know what to apologize Kuromi for, tell her the same apology you gave me."

Everyone looked at the girl curiously.

"You see, even if I'm the one taking control, she can her us talking and if I get hurt, she feels the same pain I do, vice versa. If one of us dies, be it Kuromi, I'll die as well. We're connected, not two separate people, but separate personalities," Kiyoko explained.

Kurapika nodded understandingly as he looked up at the girl, their hands still linked together.

"I'm sorry about the incident and for my rude behavior, Kuromi," he said, trying to hide his disappointment, aware that the negative personal can hear their conversation.

'Hmph. Fine. I'll accept the goddamn apology, but what about four eyes over there?'

Kiyoko sighed and face Leorio as she finally let go of the boy's wrist, fingers brushing his hand as she did so.

"She accepts your apology, Kurapika-kun, but Leorio, she is expecting an explanation about your action at that food stand," the girl told the man as he squeezed water out of his tie.

Kurapika stared at the girl awkwardly after her fingers brushed his skin, feeling a tingly sensation on it.

"Huh? W-well I was hungry and I didn't have money on me alright?"

Kuromi growled, taking over half of Kiyoko's body.

"NOT A GOOD ENOUGH EXPLANATION, FOUR EYES!" Kuromi exclaimed.

Kiyoko turned their head away from the man and sighed, bringing her arm she had control over up to their face.

"Kiyoko, how can you like people like them?! THAT FOUR EYES OVER THERE STOLE FOOD CAUSE HE DIDN'T HAVE MONEY! HOW REPULSIVE! AND THEN THERES JUMPY, ALWAYS SO HAPPY AND YET VERY STUBBORN! CAT EYES RIGHT THERE NEARLY INJURED US, HOW CAN YOU STILL BE SO NICE TO HIM?!" Kuromi yelled at herself.

The three boys looked at the girl; Leorio and Kurapika's faces cringed at Kuromi while Gon had a blank stare.

"Kuromi, don't be rude. They aren't bad people at all and I can tell by the tone of their voices," Kiyoko told Kuromi, smiling at the others.

Leorio continued to glare at Kuromi as Kurapika's face slightly softened at Kiyoko comment.

"Hmph! Suit yourself, but anything happens," Kuromi said, pulling out the staff and gripping it tightly, "they're going to regret it."

Kuromi returned Kiyoko's body to her causing Kiyoko to feel a little off balanced at the sudden change.

"You guys might need to watch your back.. Do whatever it takes to get her to trust you, please. I can't keep switching personalities like this constantly.." Kiyoko said, holding her head stressfully.

"WE'RE ALMOST TO THE PORT, KIDDOS!" the captain announced proudly.

Everyone glanced over to the captain to see him pointing ahead, a tiny speck of land visible to the eyes.

"Is that it?" Gon asked, running over to the edge.

"It sure looks like it," Kurapika said, following the boy to the rail with the other two participants at his tail.

The seagulls and seacranes began to squawk and soar around the ship in the sky gracefully as they slowly, but surely got closer and closer to the port.

"I wonder how our next test would be like.." Kiyoko muttered.

The group continued to smile and stare at their upcoming destination, clothes and hair blowing in the calm wind.

"I can't wait to take on the next challenge!" Gon exclaimed, leaning over the rail.

"Careful, kid. You might fall back into the water again," Leorio stated straightforwardly.

"Right, that won't happen!" Gon said, giving a huge grin to everyone, causing them to smile back at him.

'This kid has too much impact on you three,' Kuromi muttered disgustedly.

'I know you'll open up to them all sooner or later,' Kiyoko thought.

'More like never.'

Kurapika looked over at the girl next to Leorio and began to wonder how she earned her disorder, curious if she actually minded the negative personal or was ever hurt by herself despite her smiling and outgoing display. Kiyoko felt a pair of eyes on her and curiously looked at the boy, halting her smile as she turned to face Kurapika. The boy caught the girl's bright eyes for a second and looked away after she gave a small confused smile.

'…? What was that about?' Kiyoko thought.

'Ha, he's probably planning to attack you soon cause of your split personality disorder,' Kuromi snickered.

'Maybe not.. It doesn't seem like it since he wasn't avoiding or shooting dirty looks at me earlier... And the tone in his voice earlier and just now sounded promising,' Kiyoko responded back, earning a click from Kuromi.

"Hey, Kiyoko, what do you think the next test is going to be like? Exciting, boring, challenging, mind blowing?" Gon asked out of the blue.

"Hmmm, I guess… surprising?" the girl asked instead of said.

"Surprising, huh? I bet all the tests we receive will be easy. After all, if anything happens I can always use my good looks and intelligent brain," Leorio bragged as he poked the sid of his head.

"Right…. I don't think so," Kurapika answered bluntly, earning a glare from the man as he smiled to himself along with the other two.

* * *

**Kurapika's hair got longer in the Yorknew City Arc –lesigh- I preferred his hair in the Hunter Exam Arc, hehe. ANYWAYS, this fanfic with only be about the Hunter Exam Arc. I'll write about the other arcs next timeeee.**

**WARNING: ****THIS IS A RANT DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T WANT. I JUST NEED TO GET IT OUT OF MY SYSTEM.**

**OKAY, so in my one of my classes, there are a lot of disrespectful students and I mean A LOT. I mean I don't care if you hate the teacher or not (I hate my teachers, but hey I don't do crap.) just respect them. They are adults after all. In class yesterday, two students began to argue to our teacher about seatings. IT'S JUST SEATINGS, CALM DOWN LADIES. OUR SEATS WERE SUPPOSED TO BE SWITCHED NEXT WEEK ANYWAYS. He ended up getting mad and switching ALL of our seats (I got the most crappy seat ever.) and then there were these, I don't know, 5 boys? Our teacher steps outside to photocopy some more worksheets, okay normal. NOT AT ALL. THEY START THROWING FKING PAPER BALLS AROUND THE GODDAMN ROOM AND STEALING SHT FROM OUR TEACHERS DESK. ONE OF THEM EVEN ATTEMPTED TO CHANGE PEOPLE'S GRADES AROUND. And then the teacher comes back and tries to explain the worksheets he finished copying. ONE OF THE OTHER STUDENTS BEGAN TO MOCK HIM. SERIOUSLY, HOW CHILDISH CAN YOU FAGGOTS BE?! WE ENDED UP WASTING THE ENTIRE PERIOD DOING NOTHING BUT GETTING LECTURED AND HAVING OUR DAMN SEATS CHANGED. I CAN'T DEAL WITH ANNOYING PESKY BTCHES AND, WELL LOOK AT THAT, IM STUCK IN BETWEEN THEM. **

**Guys, I'm sorry about my language. It's just been really stressful lately and my sprained wrist is killing me. **

_**~stormy003 **_


	4. Chapter 3

"Thank you for the ship ride," Kiyoko said politely, giving a smile to the captain as she disembarked the ship.

The captain nodded at the girl and watched the group slowly walk away from the port. Gon ran in front and faced the captain, sticking out his hand for a shake.

"Thanks, Captain!" he exclaimed as the captain accepted the gesture. "I had a great time during that ride!"

The old man smiled at the boy's comment and brought the hand he shook with up to the pipe in his mouth.

"I did too, young lad. As a token of my appreciation, I'll provide you some guidance."

Gon stopped smiling and stared at the man curiously. "…. Guidance? Like advice?"

The captain looked over to his left and took the pipe from his mouth into his hand.

"Look over there. You see that giant cedar tree on the hilltop?" he asked, taking his left hand from out of his pocket to point at the tree his was referring to.

"…. Uhuh."

"You should head over to that area first. It's another route to the exam site, shorter than the one you're actually suppose take," he told the boy, a stranger walking by to coincidentally hear the information.

"Shortcut? Alright! So, all I need to do is head for that tree over there! I'll be sure to do so, Captain!" the young boy exclaimed, unaware of the eavesdropper.

"Thank you!"

The captain smiled at the young boy and gave a wink. "Best of luck to you kids!"

"Yeah! Same goes to you!" Gon exclaimed as he ran and jumped, giving a small full twirl, dashing off to Dolle Harbor's main area and jumping again. "TAKE CAREEE!"

The man grinned at the retreating boy and saluted him with his hat.

'Don't you need to worry, Ging. Your son has grown into a very respectable young man.'

The eavesdropping man smirked as he watched Gon run off to his destination and decided to follow him unsuspected.

"Huh….. That's strange…." Leorio muttered.

"Hm? Why?" Gon asked, everyone directing their attention to the man.

"Well, according to that noticed I received, the exam we are planning to take is supposed to be held around Zaban City or so. Right now, we're right over here," Leorio explained, pointing at the area in the large map before them. "The tree would be in the opposite direction we are trying to get to."

"That's quite true.. We would be heading off the route and getting farther from the exam site if we went that way, don't you think?" Kiyoko asked curiously, lowering her level to Gon's height.

"You might have misheard him perchance?" Kurapika asked, staring at the young boy curiously.

"No, not at all.. He told me to head over to that cedar tree for sure," Gon replied to everyone.

"I see….." Kurapika replied, bringing a hand up to his chin.

"Also, this little note isn't any help!" Leorio stated, staring at the notice disappointedly. "Precisely WHERE in Zaban City are we supposed to head to?"

"Our assigned duty is to find the exam site right now, using a minimal portion of info we can," the Kurta boy responded blandly. "This is just another test before we are allowed to take the real Hunter exam."

Leorio stomped his foot and tried to hold in his anger. "I-I knew that…! I totally already knew all that!"

"Anyways, I'll go over there and have a look," Gon popped in.

"If the captain told Gon this, I'll believe to trust the two," Kiyoko answered, giving a smile to Gon.

Gon smiled back and began heading off to the direction he was told to go. "The captain must've had a reason to suggest this to us."

The other two boys watched the two participants head off in the direction the captain told Gon to head towards.

"Hey, hey… You guys serious?" Leorio asked, pointing over to the bus behind him. "The bus to Zaban is going to leave soon! We all should just take it!"

Gon waved at the two without looking back, continuing towards the cedar tree with Kiyoko to accompany him as Leorio continued to call after the two.

"H-HEY! Oh man.. He's got to learn that you can't trust every single person in this world…" Leorio said disappointedly, Kurapika suddenly taking interest in Gon's actions.

The teenage boy began to walk after the two with an interested smile on his face, leaving Leorio behind by himself.

"Hm? K-Kurapika! Hey!"

The boy continued to walk off to the direction of the cedar tree and didn't bother to look back.

"Gon's attitude and actions actually interests me more than that captain's guide. I'm going to head over there with the two," Kurapika answered as Leorio stuffed the small sheet of paper into his pocket inside his suit.

"Oh? Well, isn't that so?" he asked in a mocked tone.

"See you then. It wasn't that long, but nice knowing you three," he said, waving the younger attendees off and heading towards the bus.

'Guess that kid wasn't as independent as I'd thought of him to be… I'm going to take that damn bus!' Leorio muttered to himself.

'So, it was a trap….' the man overheard, causing his ear to twitch.

'It seems that none of the buses have made it to Zaban City… Rookies usually fail this part of the test since they're too naïve and gullible,' the unknown men continued to say.

Leorio froze in his spot for a while and began to sweat nervously after hearing the important information.

"W-WAITTTTTTTT! WAIT, WAIT,WAIT,WAIT! WAIT FOR MEEEE!" he called, running and jumping after the three that were already gone.

"Wellll, I knew you guys would be sad and lonely without me and it's not that exciting to travel by yourself, so I decided to stick with you three for a while longer, HAHAHA!" Leorio said, unaware of Kuromi's presence around them all.

"You found out the stupid buses were a trap," Kuromi stated, looking at the man unamused.

Leorio flinched as a violent shiver was sent down his spine by the girl's hard cold stare.

"Stop it, Kuromi…. Just give him a break already…." Kiyoko sighed, forcing herself to look ahead.

The man following behind the small group smirked and ran out in front of them unnoticed as Kuromi continued to shoot death glares at the frightened Leorio, Gon trying to get her back to her normal state and Kurapika watching them with amusement.

"Ahh!" a sudden yelp exclaimed.

Everyone jumped and looked up ahead of them to see a man sitting on the ground, holding at his ankle in pain.

"Are you alright, mister?" Gon asked, running up to the 'injured' man.

"Y-yeah… I think I just sprained my ankle.." he faked, pointing at a small gap next to him.

Kuromi lowered her eyelid and stared at the man suspiciously as Kiyoko remained to stare at the man blankly, taking in the tone of his voice in her head.

"Are you heading over to the same direction we are, sir?" Gon asked, pointing at the cedar tree. "We can help you get there if you like. I'm Gon! What's your name?"

The man looked at the boy with a surprised look on his face, smiling at Gon's offer.

"Yes, I'm heading over to the cedar tree for the test. My name's Matthew," the man said as Gon began to carry him onto his back.

Kiyoko quietly clicked her tongue to herself, her half still having a poker face on to hide her side of distrust, while Kuromi's half remained frowning hard at Matthew. Kurapika noticed anger emitting from the actual girl herself for the first time and not just with her negative persona who was releasing even more dangerous vibes than ever. The boy looked over at Matthew with a bothered looking face expression, not trusting the man either. As the group continued to travel up the mountain for a little longer, Leorio suddenly disappearing, Kurapika looked over his shoulder to check on Gon once again to see the lying man have a gloomy looking face on.

'Hey, I noticed the atmosphere around the two of you changed earlier..' Kurapika mumbled, shooting a glare at the man on Gon's back.

'Oh? So you've noticed?' Kiyoko asked, suddenly groaning in little pain.

'Hey, are you alright?' Kurapika asked, stopping in his track.

'Just.. great….' Kuromi growled. 'Kiyoko, can I take over? We're starting to deal damage to your body now.'

'I know that! If you want to be the one in control, then treat the others nicely except for that Matthew freak. I don't trust him,' Kiyoko muttered.

'It's a deal,' Kuromi said, taking full control over the body and staggering a little.

'Damage?' Kurapika repeated, holding Kuromi's shoulders before she fell.

'Yeah, physical and mental damage,' Kuromi said as the two began to walk again, the girl having an urge to shake the boy off.

"Does your leg still hurt, Matthew-san?" Gon asked ignorantly.

"Y-yeah… I think I sprained it pretty bad… I'm sorry, Gon, I wasn't familiar with the mountain's path," Matthew said.

"No, it's alright!" Gon replied gullibly.

"Ah! That's right! We're in the mountains right now! Wait right here for a minute, Matthew-san!" Gon exclaimed as he lowered the man onto the ground, Kurapika and Kuromi looking behind again.

"Huh? What's wrong, Gon?" he asked curiously.

Gon pointed a thumb behind him.

"There should be some medicinal herbs in the mountain.. I'll go look for some for you!" the young boy exclaimed, running off into the plants.

"Wh-what are you talking about, Gon?!" the man exclaimed as the other two watched him run off.

"We can't afford to waste any time for that…" he trailed off disappointedly.

Kurapika faced the man and held onto Kuromi's arm to support her.

"If you're in such a hurry, why don't you just go ahead by yourself? No need to be accompanied right?" the boy asked.

"I'm quite sure that you're the one wasting OUR time here, you freak," Kuromi added looking away.

"Wait, what?" Matthew asked.

"So long," Kurapika said, pulling the weakened girl with him.

"Have fun healing that 'injured' ankle of yours while we take that exam," Kuromi spat.

Matthew sat on the ground where Gon placed him for a little longer and then finally stood up.

'God damn it… So close too!' he thought to himself as he began to walk around. "Hey, don't leave me alone! Where are you, Gon?!"

"So about the damages you both suffer…" Kurapika picked up from the conversation they had.

"Ah, Kiyoko suffers that damage most. I suffer it too, but not as bad as her since this is her body. When we both are in control of the body at the same time, it takes a lot of energy and concentration to maintain in control of half her body. I don't need to do any of that, but I experience the same yet weaker pain she has, after all, I am her other self. If we kept up with that form any longer, Kiyoko would be the one to pass out and I would be the one with very little control over the body since SHE collapsed," Kuromi explained, knowing how Kiyoko's state is like right now. "That would also mean that I took on a lot of damage and won't be able to even lift up a finger, a chance of passing out as well."

"Oh? Then why do you always try to take control of her if you know about this?" Kurapika asked, sounding calm.

"Why don't you try to be like us? You wouldn't know how we feel just being in some dark and endless place with no one around only to know that the person you share a body with is experiencing everything you want to experience. Just think about that," the girl replied as she resisted pushing the boy away.

'Kiyoko, are you feeling alright?' Kuromi asked herself.

'I'm fine, just tired.. I might have a headache later though,' Kiyoko replied.

A sudden yell was heard from behind where the two left Matthew at, Kurapika deciding to walk over and check what was going on.

"I'm guessing you can't walk quickly, so take this as a helping hand," the boy said, picking up the girl bridal style and quickly walking off.

"A-AH! OI! WARNING NEXT TIME!" Kuromi exclaimed.

'You, beast! If you make a move, you'll be sorry you've ever attacked me!' Matthew's voice exclaimed, a rhino growling at him.

"Put those crappy things away!" Kurapika ordered once he reached the man, setting Kuromi back down.

Matthew took a glance over his shoulder; still have the weapons out in front of him.

"You can't even wield those properly, can you?" Kurapika asked boldly.

"You're just going to end up hurting yourself," Kuromi stated bluntly.

Gon suddenly appeared from the other side they stood at, walking towards the animal without any precaution.

"H-hey, hey, Gon!" Matthew exclaimed.

"It's way too unnerved. We don't have any other choice," Kurapika told the boy, pulling out his linked bokken swords and walking forward away from Kuromi.

"No, wait, Kurapika. It became this troubled because we all entered its area without knowing," Gon said.

"Just let him handle this," the girl groaned, allowing a hand to trail up to her forehead and the other clumsily grab at Kurapika's talbard.

The boy remained firm in his stance and grunted at the animal's furious nature.

"Calm down. It's okay, I won't do anything."

Grass began to faintly rustle behind Kurapika and Kuromi, Kuromi being the one to notice first.

"We don't intend to overstep your territory, so-"

"W-WAIT, DON'T DO IT, YOU IDIOT!" the girl yelled as she turned around quickly, putting her weight on the boy before her as she slipped a bit.

"Watch it! GON!" Leorio exclaimed, jumping over a surprised Kurapika and an annoyed Kuromi in the process.

"DAMN. YOU!" he exclaimed, swinging his briefcase at the poor thing.

Gon and Kurapika's face immediately switched to horror as Kuromi covered up her face and shook her head, disgruntled of his actions. Leorio stared at the now enraged animal with an idiotic face expression, immediately taking off as the rhino began to chase after him.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! D-DON'T COME THIS WAYYYYY!" he exclaimed, his face going blue.

"….. Where did he come from..?" Kurapika asked curiously, still holding onto his weapons as dirt clouds started to form.

"I have no idea.." Gon answered.

"This is amusing. Let's let the poor thing chase after the moron a little longer he deserved it.." Kuromi requested.

"I HEARD THATTTTTTT!" he yelled, climbing up a tree.

"That was all your fault, sooo…" Kuromi said, falling to the floor after standing up straight and letting go of her support.

'Oh, ow…' she muttered.

Gon walked over to where the rhino was standing, still growling at Leorio angrily.

"So, where were you?" Kurapika asked putting away his weapons and helping Kuromi back up.

"Hmm…. Well, I got separated by you guys.. I looked away for a brief second and next thing you know you all disappeared," Leorio said, smirking a bit.

"Oh? You seem pretty proud of something," Kuromi said, her eye lids lowered.

"Right, right… NOW PLEASE, GON, SEND THAT VICIOUS RHINO AWAY!" Leorio yelled frighteningly.

Gon allowed a wide smile spread across his face and turned over to the Rhino saying a few things to it before it headed off.

"Bye!" Gon exclaimed, waving at the animal.

"How long are we going to waste time here…?" Matthew asked impatiently as everyone looked over to him. "Someone may have got ahead of us and beat us to the area already. If we weren't wasting so much time fooling around like I mentioned before, we would've left the area without these problems."

"But it turned out to be nice though," Gon answered, walking to Leorio. "We were also able to find Leorio-san again and it also seems like your ankle healed a little."

"Aw, I'm very please for you, Matthew-san," Kurapika said sarcastically, making the man frown.

"Heh, I never knew injuries like sprained ankles could heal within minutes. And this is why you don't allow that idiot to try and come save the day, kids," Kuromi said boringly.

"H-HEY! AT LEAST I DID SOMETHING, UNLIKE YOU!" the man exclaimed, pointing at the tired looking girl.

"It's better than doing something stupid like hitting an already angered rhino."

'Kuromi…. Your promise.. Treat everyone, including Leorio-san, nicely, please,' Kiyoko requested once more in a very exhausted tone.

'Hey, Kiyoko. Are you sure you're alright? You don't seem fine and it's starting to affect me a little,' Kuromi said, looking at her leg that began to slowly lose feeling.

'Just.. fine..'

"Kurapika, you can let go of me now. I'm fine," the girl said not looking away from the ground.

"Hm? You sure?" he asked, slowly letting go.

"What? Now you need that guy to hold you up? Are you really that lazy?" Leorio said, smirking at his statement.

Kuromi didn't bother looking up from the ground, a slightly sad look coming upon her face before she grunted and glared at the floor, looking up slowly.

"When did I become the lazy one?" she asked, shooting a look at Kurapika to make him let go.

The boy sighed and fully removed his grip from her arm, allowing her to use a tree for support.

'Kuromi, you shouldn't let him get to you like that…' Kiyoko said.

'You tell me that and yet you don't even listen to yourself,' Kuromi fought back. 'Isn't that how I suddenly existed in this world? Because you let everything get to you and mix up your feelings and attitude?'

Kiyoko remained quiet, knowing her counterpart was correct with her reason.

"Let's hurry up and get to that exam site already…" Kuromi growled, trying to walk on her own and staggering with every step she took.

'Hmph. That brat..' Leorio muttered angrily.

Gon watched the girl carefully from behind and ran up to her after a little while.

"Kuromi? Are you okay? You don't lo-"

'I'm fine….' she muttered under her breath.

"But-"

"Gon, if I said I'm alright, then I'm alright!" the girl rose her voice, causing the Kurta boy to worry about her a little.

"Leorio, you know you'll regret saying all that to her if I told you why she needed help walking," the boy said, closing his eyes and crossing his arms on his chest.

"Regret? You saw her horrendous attitude! Why would I regret it when she deserved it?" he said, the girl overhearing the conversation.

Kuromi closed her eyes shut and gritted her teeth together, clenching and relaxing her fists. Gon noticed the sudden change in the usual demeanor she had, concern crossing his face.

"I don't think you'll understand, but it'll be up to the two of them to decide whether to tell you guys or not. She already told me cause they kind of had to," Kurapika said, shrugging a little.

"Like I'll have a sudden change in that little witch-"

Gon suddenly turned around and stared at Leorio with a calm face.

"Leorio-san, you should just give it up," he said, surprising everyone.

Kuromi lifted up her head and looked over to the young boy, her deep scarlet, close to crimson, eyes widening at the sudden defense.

'…. Kiyoko, when would you like to switch with me…?' Kuromi asked, feeling her throat hitch a little.

Kiyoko smiled calmly and stood up from the pitch black area.

'I'm guessing now would be a good time, am I correct?' the girl asked, switching with her negative personal.

Kiyoko groaned and stopped in her track, feeling like she was going to fall over within a second. Gon saw the swap this time and immediately grabbed at the girl's arm.

"Are you okay, Kiyoko?" he asked curiously as she covered up a dropping tear.

"A-ah, yeah, I'm alright. Just tired," she said, covering up for Kuromi. "Sorry, if she was really rude to you guys."

Gon smiled at the girl unaware of the tears coming from her right eye.

"It's alright! She wasn't really a bad person at all to us!" Gon said, Leorio clicking his tongue.

'Except for me,' he muttered.

'Thanks, Kiyoko. You're the best friend I could ever had even though I'm a violent and crappy person,' Kuromi said, smiling a decent smile for once as tears streamed down her face.

'Looks like Gon got to you. Use this exchange as time to calm down. Ask me whenever you want to switch with me, okay?' Kiyoko asked, chuckling a little.

"S-sorry, Gon, but I'm going to need you to support my body weight right now.." Kiyoko said, holding onto his shoulder and walking again.

"It's okay!" Gon said.

"Told you they both needed help," Kurapika said looking away.

'This is a very… eerie place…' Leorio said looking around the area as a crow cawed loudly upon their approach. 'It's very empty and I don't see a single soul here…'

"No, there are plenty here," Gon stated calmly as they all stopped in their tracks.

"Careful now.." Kurapika said.

"I hear quiet breathing and rustles of clothing around this spot… Do you?" Kiyoko asked.

"Unfortunately, no. BECAUSE I'M AN ORDINARY MAN!" Leorio exclaimed.

A gate suddenly began to open, causing the attendees to flinch and become cautious of their surroundings. The gate fully opened up as several people with many types of instruments on their persons pulled out a stage with an old woman sitting on it.

'Wh-what is with the freak show…?' Leorio muttered, Kiyoko shrugging at the question.

'Exciting….' the woman said.

"E-exciting?" Leorio repeated as a question.

"Exciting…." she repeated louder.

"Exciting," Leorio repeated again, staring intently at the old lady and gulping really hard.

"EXCITING TWO-CHOICE QUIZ!" she finally finished, opening her eyes wide.

The people next to her began to play their instruments after the sudden outburst, the crow cawing on cue. Everyone stared at the bunch blankly, a confused expression crossing their faces.

"You boys and girl are heading over for that tree on top of that hill, am I correct?" she asked after the commotion stopped. "To reach that tree, you all must pass through this town."

"Huh?" Gon said.

Kiyoko still had a blank expression on her face, blinking curiously as she listened to the woman.

"I shall direct a single-questioned quiz then."

Matthew had a smug look on his face as he thought out his plan.

'This is where I ditch these fools and set out booby traps…'

"W-wait. What's going on right now?" Leorio asked, looking around the empty town.

"You'll have five seconds to place an answer," the woman continued, ignoring Leorio's question. "Give me the wrong answer and you're barred from the exam, meaning you'll have to give up this year's Hunter Exam."

"I see…" Kurapika said calmly, smiling confidently. "Then this must be a part of the exam."

"I see how it is. I happen to be a quiz expert," Leorio bragged.

Kiyoko sighed at the man's answer and looked over her shoulder.

"Thing is you may never know what kind of questions she'll throw at us. Also it's a SINGLE-questioned quiz," the girl reminded him.

"Wait. ONLY ONE QUESTION?!" Leorio exclaimed, a frightened looking expression appearing on his face.

"Your answer will either be the number 1 or 2," she said, holding up the numbers with her fingers. "Any other answers will be considered incorrect."

"Hold up. ALL of us are sharing ONE QUESTION?"

"It'd be quicker, no?" the old lady answered.

"So, if this guy here answers wrong, then I'm disqualified also? Is that right?" Leorio asked to make sure, pointing at Kurapika and then to himself.

The boy lowered his eyelids at the man and turned around to face the other way.

"As if that would ever happen! For sure that's impossible!" he exclaimed as he crossed his arms, Gon smiling awkwardly and Kiyoko trying hard not to giggle. "What frightens me more is the high feasibility of the opposite happening. It brings me to the verge of tears," he continued, holding his arms up and shaking his head disappointedly.

Kiyoko broke into a little giggle fit and lost her balance, falling back onto her butt.

'A-AH! ARE YOU OKAY, KIYOKO?' Kuromi asked, knowing the girl hated pain.

'I'm fine, I'm fine!'

"What was that?!" Leorio exclaimed angrily as Kurapika crossed his arms again, still having the bored look on his face.

"But you know… This way's easier, since only one of us needs to know the answer! I'm not so good at thinking things out like this…" Gon stated, rubbing the back of his head embarrassedly.

'That's true…' Kiyoko said, still sitting on the floor.

'I suppose so….' Leorio said, staring at the Kurta.

'Fair point..' Kurapika said, staring back at the doctor-to-be man.

"I'll be passing by myself. Let me try first. Is that clear, Granny?" Matthew said, everyone looking over at him.

"You have quite the confidence right there.. You may try it," she answered, smiling casually.

"Then it's decided!" he exclaimed, looking over to the group. "I can't take a risk failing this quiz by taking it with you guys."

Everyone, but Gon, stared at the man coldly.

"Matthew-san?" the young boy asked.

"Sorry, but I was using you gullible idiots to get here in the first place, not to become pals with anyone. I just needed to reach this town safely. I am quite skillful at using my brain, you know? I don't have any business with you morons anymore."

Kiyoko's poker face changed into a deadly glare; one that the group never thought she could pull off, an eyebrow twitching in irritation a little.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY? DAMN YOU!" Leorio exclaimed in anger.

Kurapika calmed down a little and gave off a smile to the man.

"Leave him be. Hearing the question may give us a hint in advance as well." Kurapika said.

"True… But-"

"Let's finish this quickly, old woman!" Matthew exclaimed rudely.

"Alright, here's your question… Evil villains have captured your mother and lover. You have the choice to only save one or the other. Select 1 for your mother, or 2 for your lover," the woman said, holding up her fingers again. "Which will you save…?"

The group was taken by surprise from the question the old woman asked.

"H-how is this even a quiz?!" Leorio exclaimed angrily.

Matthew hit the red buzzer before him and looked straight at the lady on the stage, everyone looked at the man curiously.

"The answer is 1," he said, crossing his arms together.

"Oh? And why do you say that?" she asked, resting her chin on her hands.

"It's because you can't replace your mother, but you can always find another lover," he explained.

"What?" Leorio yelled.

The black crow at the stage cawed once after the answer was given. The old lady pointed her thumb to her right.

"You may pass…" she said.

"WHAT?!" Leorio yelled again.

'This quiz doesn't feel right,' Kuromi told Kiyoko.

'Agreed.. And that answer sounded really... messed up...'

"You just have to tell the granny what she wants to hear," Matthew told the group. "Adios."

Leorio was now angered by the old woman's response to Matthew's answer, swinging his arm out in front of him.

"HEY, THAT'S JUST BULL! HOW WAS THAT THE RIGHT ANSWER?! WE'RE ASKED TO GIVE AN ANSWER THE LADY WANTS AND IT'S TAKEN AS CORRECT?!" he exclaimed furiously.

Kurapika and Kiyoko looked at Leorio and listened to his rant as Gon crossed his arms together and began to think about the question himself.

"HEY, SAY SOMETHING!"

The crow gave another caw to the man as he furiously ranted some more.

"I WON'T REPLY TO ANY OF THESE FALSE QUESTIONS! I'LL GO FIND A DIFFERENT ROUTE!" he finished.

"It's too late," the lady finally replied, stopping Leorio from leaving. "Refuse to take this quiz and you'll also be disqualified."

"THAT'S JUST RIDICULOUS! DIFFERENT PEOPLE WOULD LOOK FOR DISCRETE ANSWERS!" he yelled even more enraged, pointing at the lady. "THERE. IS. NO. RIGHT. ANSWER!" he finished, bending and moving his fingers back and forth.

'Ah..! No.. right answer…' Kurapika muttered to himself. 'I see!'

'Hm? I think he's onto something,' Kiyoko thought.

The old woman noticed Kurapika's reaction and realized he found the answer.

"LEORIO!" the boy exclaimed.

"Wait!"

"Huh?" everyone, but Gon who was still thinking hard reacted.

'The cat-eyed boy has concluded the actual answer…' the old lady thought to herself.

"I don't want to hear another word from you. Say anything but the answer, and you're barred as well."

Leorio began to growl and looked around his surroundings.

'Open your eyes, Leorio. It's a simple answer… Gon…'

The boy looked at the two and then over to Kiyoko to see her writing a message on the dirt ground. The boy relaxed a little when he saw what she wrote. Silence.

"Here is your question…. Your son and daughter have been kidnapped. Just like before you may only save one or the other. Select 1 for your son, or 2 for your daughter," the woman said, lifting up her fingers. "Which will you rescue?"

Leorio growled and frowned hard at the lady, turning away to walk off somewhere.

'She's toying with us…'

"Five…"

Kurapika went over to Kiyoko and brushed away the answer with his feet quickly, helping her up from the floor right after.

"Four…"

'Go ahead and keep counting down, you old hag,' Leorio thought as he picked up a wooden stick from the side.

"Three… Two…"

Kurapika eyed Leorio carefully as he led Kiyoko over to the side of the building quickly, seeing the man swinging the stick repetitively and Gon still thinking.

"One… Buzz, Time's up."

Leorio immediately took action and jumped over to the stage to hit the old woman with the stick he picked up only to be stopped by the Kurta and his nunchaku. The stick broke once it made contact with Kurapika's weapon, scaring off the crow in the process.

"DON'T STOP ME, KURAPIKA! I WON'T BE SATISFIED UNTIL I'VE TAUGHT THIS HAG A LESSON!" he exclaimed angrily pushing the boy back.

"CALM DOWN, LEORIO!" Kurapika exclaimed as he pushed Leorio away, Kiyoko flinching at the entire scene before her.

"HOW AM I SUPPOSE TO CALM DOWN?!"

'This guy is an idiot…' Kuromi sighed.

"YOU'RE GOING TO LAVISH OUR CORRECT RESPONSE!" the boy yelled back, getting up to Leorio's face.

Leorio's expression immediately changed to confusion.

"Huh? Correct?" he repeated, Kiyoko shaking her head slowly.

"We gave her the right answer just now. Silence was the best answer to give," Kurapika told the man, putting away his bokken swords.

"Silence? What do you mean…?"

Kurapika crossed his arms together across his chest.

"You blurted out the answer when you were ranting earlier, not even aware that you said it out loud. Precisely, this quiz had no right answer. However, we could only say 1 or 2 as our answer and nothing else, but there was a third option, not responding to the question at all. Silence was the only answer we could give," Kurapika explained, putting a finger up to his lips.

"But what about that other freak, Matthew?" Leorio asked.

"They never said anything about him giving off the correct response. She only said, 'You may pass.' To put it simple, the path here is the wrong route to take."

Kiyoko smiled at the two that finally calmed down, not a single violent thought lingering in the air anymore.

"The answer Matthew gave earlier may have been the correct answer if this quiz was mainly about looking into your thoughts and opinions. Choices 1 and 2 were just probabilities of correct answers if the woman here was looking for logical reasoning like how Matthew said there can only be one mother and many lovers in the world, which is true, and if someone in the group said they'd save their son because they don't have a daughter or say daughter because their son can defend himself, that would be quite logical as well. These questions usually like to mess up people's brains really and didn't you hear a scream earlier during the quiz? That was probably Matthew falling into a trap," Kiyoko said.

"Well, am I correct with my explanation?" Kurapika asked the woman.

"Precisely.. The correct path to take is right over here," the lady said, walking over to the door beside her. "This path will lead you directly to the tree. Walk through here for 2 hours and you'll reach to the peak."

"Oh. So that's what this whole thing was about…" Leorio said cluelessly.

"A couple live in the cabin that rests beneath that tree. They serve as Navigators. If you meet their expectations, I believe they'll guide you over to the exam site," the lady said smiling.

Leorio dropped the broken stick beside him onto the ground as Kurapika went over and gave a piggyback ride to Kiyoko.

"Granny, I'm sorry for my rude behavior," Leorio apologized, bowing down a little.

"Don't be, I don't mind. I do this job because I enjoy meeting people like you guys."

"Huh?"

The old lady turned around to face Leorio with a smile on her face.

"Do your best to become an excellent hunter."

Leorio slowly gave a toothy grin and rubbed the side of his head embarrassedly, his smile changing to curiosity.

"Ahh…! It's no use! I can't think of an answer!" Gon complained.

Kiyoko giggled at the boy's sudden statement and calmed down right after.

"Gon, you don't need to think too hard about it anymore," the girl called, Leorio chuckling at him.

"You were still thinking of an answer? Well, like Kiyoko said, you can stop now!" Leorio said.

"Huh? Why?" the boy asked.

"The quiz is over now," Kurapika told the boy, propping the girl up higher onto his back.

"I know that. But… you know.. What if I, no, we ran into a situation like that and we can ONLY save one person? What WOULD you do then?"

The group looked at the boy surprisedly at this.

"It wouldn't be right to choose who to save, but one day we might have to make a choice like that…" Gon said in a serious tone.

'That is right.. That is the real purpose of this little quiz… you must be prepared to face the possibly worse case scenarios because harsh reality strikes without any warning.. You all must be prepared for the day your path divides…' the lady thought as the others waved and left.

"Hey, Kiyoko?" Leorio called.

"Hm?" the girl hummed tiredly, resting her head beside Kurapika's.

"Is there something you would like to tell Gon and I about right now?"

* * *

**Hey, late post I know. I took my first afternoon nap today and I was still really tired. d: Anyways, yeah, I might update later today and tomorrow too for my other fanfics, haha. **

_**~stormy003 **_


	5. Chapter 4

"Something? Like what?" Kiyoko asked, trying to sound confused.

"Whatever you told Kurapika in the mountains," Leorio said.

"…. Hmmm? But that was Kuromi, not me.. She probably told him whatever it was because he shared his deepest secret to us all," Kiyoko reminded everyone. "Wouldn't that be a fair exchange?"

Kurapika stayed quiet as he listened to the girl talk, feeling her voice vibrating her small body on his back a little.

"True.. But it also seemed very important when Kurapika mentioned it," Leorio fought back.

"Well, if you want to know…." Kiyoko trailed off, looking away.

'I know black magic…' she whispered, making the man stop and back away quickly.

The group laughed at the man's reaction after Kiyoko told a lie to everyone.

"I'm just kidding, Leorio-san. It's something else, but are we going to travel like this and work together at the Hunters' Exam? If so, I'll tell you."

"Well, you said you'd be working with me! I think Kurapika and Leorio would tag along too since we don't know anyone else in that exam," Gon chimed.

'Are you sure you can trust them with this, Kiyoko?' Kuromi asked, curiously. 'You already know why I told Kurapika, but about the other two..'

'It's alright, I trust them,' Kiyoko answered.

"Alright then. I'll tell you everything you need to look out for, except for personals of course," the girl answered.

The girl caught a look of relief on Leorio's face when she agreed to tell the group more about the problem she bears.

"You already know about Kuromi and my split personality disorder, but you don't know it in details," Kiyoko started. "I got this disorder at a young age, around 6 or 7 I'm guessing, from abuse by random people."

"Abuse?" Gon asked. "For what? I heard about a girl that was described to look like you getting mistreated and all."

"O-oh, well, I'll get to that soon and that is probably me. Anywayssss….. It already takes a lot of willpower for me to alternate from me to her and the other way around, so when Kuromi and I are present at the same time, I'm using most of my concentration and energy trying to keep in control of this body. If you've noticed, Kuromi is usually overpowering me in this state. If we both stay like that, half and half, for too long, my body would begin taking damage and pain physically and mentally, making me weaker by the time passing. It isn't too serious right now which makes my body unstable, but I may get a fever right then and there if the damage I suffer is… ehhh, not too low or high, and if it is high, then I may pass out right on the spot. Kuromi gets affected by this stuff as well, just not as heavy and risky as the effect is on me. I'm always the one to pass out first, leaving her vulnerable and very weak. She is connected with me after all. She wouldn't even be able to move an inch if that were to happen. Having damage inflicted on my body is also possible if we substitute for each other too many times in a row," Kiyoko continued.

"I see, so that's why Blondie here was helping you the entire time," Leorio said understandingly.

"Who are you calling 'Blondie', Four-Eyes?" the boy shot back.

The two growled at each other, pressing their faces close to each other with brute force and looking away right after.

"Right… So, Kuromi will always be the one to control this body when I'm knocked out cold, but there's a possibility that she would pass out as well, maybe a 90 percent chance out of 100. The affect of headaches and being somewhat paralyzed for a brief moment would fade away slowly. Now, about being abused…. Uhh.. I don't know how to explain this without scaring anyone, but you might find out about the reason behind it sooner or later," Kiyoko said.

"You don't have to tell us everything in one go, so don't worry about that," Kurapika told the girl, propping her up again. "Besides, I think that's enough info about you despite just meeting you for about a day and a half."

Kiyoko nodded and looked at the other two boys to see them giving her wide grins in the dark tunnel.

"So, why do you usually alternate from yourself to Kuromi and vice versa?" Leorio asked.

"Hmm, Kuromi wants to see and experience the world herself too, you know. Of course I understand her wish well since I'm always switching with her. Think about this, 2 different people sharing a body, one having freedom and experiencing everything they want to experience while the other is stuck in a dark cold area, seeing what the other is being exposed to in this world through the eyes of the person. It sucks, really, since you want to be out in that world smiling and doing things YOU want to do," Kiyoko told the man.

Gon began to think about the girl's explanation about her alternation with Kuromi, his head starting to overheat from thinking too hard.

"A-ah, Gon! You don't need to think about this too hard!" the girl exclaimed, trying to cool down the boy's head.

"…. I wouldn't like that feeling either really…" Gon finally answered.

"Huh?"

"It just feels like you're being isolated by everything, right?" Kurapika asked, looking back at the girl on his back.

"….. Yeah.." she answered smiling sadly.

Kurapika turned over to look at the man next to him to see him looking at his feet.

"Regretting it now?"

Leorio snapped out of his train of thoughts and head locked the younger boy for a bit as Kurapika stomped on his foot several times, swinging his briefcase onto his shoulder right after.

"Pfft. Yeah, right…. Maybe just a little.." the man answered.

"Hahaha, don't worry, Leorio-san. No offense has been taken by us both," the girl lied.

'Hmph!' Kuromi grunted.

"This entire trip is going to take 2 hours, plenty of time for Kuromi and me to rest," Kiyoko assured the group.

"Kiyoko? Is there any other reason for you to take this Hunter Exam?" Gon asked.

'So many questions….' Kuromi complained.

'Oh, hush. Don't worry about it.'

"Not at all. I hate violence in general, but Kuromi is usually asking me to pick fights on others," Kiyoko answered.

"If you hate violence, does that mean you don't know any fighting techniques?" Leorio asked stupidly.

"…. Want to try me?" Kiyoko asked seriously.

"No.. Not at all.. I was.. joking.. yeah," the man answered frighteningly.

Kiyoko shook her head and giggled a little.

"I can fight. Kuromi usually takes care of the more out of hand type of fights though, that's all. Other than that, yes, I'm fairly skilled with combat and weapon wielding for one who hates violence and gore."

'Oh, we'll see about that,' Kurapika muttered, curious if what she said was true or just a cover up.

"You're getting heavy you know?" the boy lied, wanting to see the girl's reaction.

'Well, you didn't have to carry us in the first place!' Kuromi yelled angrily.

"Kuromi said that you didn't have to carry me before we left for the lone cedar tree. That's true, I could've held onto Gon and walk myself you know," Kiyoko told the boy, ignoring his rude comment.

"Fine then. If you're not thankful for my actions, suit yourself," Kurapika said in a relaxed tone, dropping Kiyoko to the floor and making her yelp in pain.

'Geez, a little warning next time…' Kiyoko whimpered before switching with a pissed off Kuromi for a little.

"HEY! CAREFUL, PRETTY BOY! KIYOKO HATES PAIN AND CAN'T TAKE MUCH OF IT, SO YOU BETTER APOLOGIZE TO HER!" Kuromi yelled.

"Oh? If she hates and can't take much of pain, then why is she here in the first place?" Kurapika asked casually.

"IT'S CAUSE I MADE HER COME HERE, OBVIOUSLY! .. Douche bag.."

The girl switched back to her original self and stood up a little uneasy, getting swept up by Kurapika again bridal style.

"A-ah! A-are you going to drop me again?" Kiyoko asked, getting ready to pull out her staff.

"No, don't worry about that. Just proving that you still can't walk yet," he answered sternly.

Kiyoko's face remained calm as she decided to slap the boy's arm instead of whacking him with her weapon.

"How rude... So much for proof.." Kiyoko said, hiding her displeased face.

Kurapika noticed her puffed out cheeks and smiled at the reaction he got out of her.

'I was expecting more of a violent lecture and some kicking and punching coming out of her, but I guess she will never get mad,' the boy thought in a pleased way. 'Maybe I can bare with her and Gon, but Leorio...'

'I may hate pain, but it doesn't mean I'm like those frail little girls..' the girl mumbled.

"Hey, Kurapika? That woman spoke about 'navigators'. What is a navigator?" Gon asked curiously.

"Mm, the location for the exam changes every year. The navigator is the one to distinguish the exact location is and leads applicants with potential to the site. It's said that it's quite nearly impossible to reach the Exam Hall without their enlightment. We must find the navigator to be able to reach the area of the exam. And we must make them recognize our talents and skills…" Kurapika answered.

"Wow, that sounds really.. complex…" Gon said.

* * *

"Are we there yet?" Leorio called, voice cracking in the process.

"What if we said no?" Kiyoko asked jokingly, holding onto Gon's shoulder and Kurapika's talbard.

The man fell onto his knees on the hard floor, dropping his suitcase with him.

"'It'll take two hours walking,' she said? To hell it was already two hours like two hours ago! Damn!" Leorio cursed, about to let out a long rant.

"He's going to blow in 3… 2.. 1.." Kiyoko counted down.

"I'M HUNGRY! I NEED TO TAKE A DUMP AND I NEED TO LEAK TOO!" Leorio complained on cue.

"Leorio, we're going to leave you behind, so hurry up!" Gon called, Kurapika looking away with an annoyed expression.

Kiyoko let out a small laugh at the boy's reaction and tried to cover it up with her hand, looking away.

"What's so funny?" Kurapika asked, looking back ahead.

"Your reactions towards everything Leorio-san does! I really love the face expressions you make!" she said, trying to suppress her laugh as the boy blushed a bit.

'Thank god she can't see in the dark..' the boy thought awkwardly.

"Let's take a break, guys!" Leorio called.

"Hey, look! The exit is right there!" Gon said.

"WHAT?! WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING?!" the man yelled, running up to the group before being left behind.

"… We got out of a long dark tunnel just to see a lake spread out in the area…. Are we supposed to swim across…?" he asked in an idiotic manner as they stepped outside.

"Hey, look! I found a boat over there!" Gon exclaimed.

* * *

"Hey, water is starting to leak in," Leorio pointed out as Gon and Kurapika rowed the boat across the vast lake.

"It's not a big problem… Just plug it up with your body or something until we get across this lake…" Kurapika sighed.

"Don't tell me… This is part of that Hunter Exam, isn't it?"

"Correcto," Kiyoko answered the man.

The group passed by a mysterious 'Beware of Magical Beasts!' sign on the way to their destination, everyone looking over to it as they passed by.

"It's one of those weird 'Beware of Magical Beasts' signs," the man said, scratching his head tiredly.

"Seems like it," the Kurta answered back.

"Say…. I've been thinking about this ever since now… How are we going to impress the navigator? I don't have a clue really," Gon decided to ask.

"Well, we can-"

"I guess it's our appearances!" Leorio interrupted Kurapika.

"… Appearance..? I don't think so.." Kiyoko said.

"It's definitely appearance. Sorry to point this out, Gon, but you don't have a chance at this. And as for you, Kurapika, you're not tall enough! I don't know about you, Kiyoko, but I guess as long you don't let Kuromi take over, you'd be fine. To sum things up, I'm the only one among us all who can impress the navigator," Leorio boasted.

The other three looked at each other curiously, Gon being the first one to ask.

"Is that right?" the innocent boy questioned.

Kurapika looked away and closed his eyes a little irritated.

"No…. Certainly not."

Kiyoko shook her head and looked away from the group and at the water's dark reflection.

"W-WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Leorio exclaimed angrily, putting a fist up in front of him.

"It'll take more than physical strength to prove it. Should be something else like…" the boy trailed off a little.

"Huh?"

"Knowledge and perceptiveness… As for you, Gon, think of something that makes you stand out most," he finished.

"Something that makes me stand out…? Uh…" Gon asked.

"You may have not noticed it yourself, but you excel in many things. Well, at least more than Leorio," Kurapika said, earning a groan from the man.

"For me, it's my courage. I wouldn't get frightened, no matter what monsters and beasts I confront," Leorio lied.

'Really..? I doubt that..' Kiyoko chuckled to herself, Kurapika and Gon smiling at her answer.

A dark silhouette suddenly appeared behind Leorio as Gon and Kurapika's eyes grew and their jaws dropped, Kiyoko turning around to see what it was, staring at it blankly as her face went pale.

"Huh?" the man asked, noticing something was off.

"Leorio… Behind you," Kurapika choked out.

"Behind me?"

Kiyoko brought her hand to her face and looked away from the shadow, trying to cover up her nervous presence.

"Y-you might want to look now before it's too late," the girl warned.

"Look," Gon said, pointing at the shadow in front of him.

Everyone was still staring at the mysterious shadow as Leorio finally decided to heed their warnings, turning around and looking up slowly. The strange animal suddenly roared, causing Leorio to scream at the top of his lungs frighteningly and row the boat as fast as he could. Kiyoko immediately shot over to the other two boys when the boat suddenly jolted at the speed they were going at, large waves being created on the way. Leorio wasn't looking at where they were heading over to and slid onto a rock like a ramp, causing the boat to fly and crash into land, Kurapika holding the girl and Gon close to him for impact before getting off.

'Is he really that scared…?' Kiyoko whispered, hanging onto Kurapika's neck as the man continued to row the air.

"Leorio," Gon called, causing him to stop rowing frantically.

Leorio blankly looked over to the side to see Gon and Kurapika standing next to the boat awkwardly, Kiyoko being set down by the Kurta boy as she blinked at the man's reaction.

"…. Here," the youngest boy said, casually handing over the man's suitcase.

* * *

"Even this lake that is the size of the ocean can be crossed quickly if I row the boat," he said, trying to sound cool.

Leorio dramatically turned around to see the others ignore him and try to decipher an ancient relic.

"HEY!"

"Is this a ruin?" Gon asked.

"It seems to be some sort of relic belonging to the ancient Sumi tribe.." Kurapika said.

"Can you read it?"

Kurapika skimmed the message as silence filled the air.

"Hmm… Many parts are absent, so I can't be too sure of this.. It looks like a warning for those who trespass this ruin," he answered.

"Interesting… But I don't think it would affect us or our travels.." Kiyoko said.

"Hey, forget about that message and where's that straight path the old lady told us?" Leorio said.

"That path? It's right over there," Gon said, pointing at the path.

"…. It just looks like a long twisting road to me… That old woman said it's a straight path," the man said, looking over at the winding path.

"A straight path doesn't actually mean that it leads us straight to our desired destination. Isn't that right, Gon? Kiyoko?" the boy asked.

"Yup!" Gon said as Kiyoko only nodded at the question and yawned a little.

"Thank you for your brief lesson, Smarty-pants," Leorio said disappointedly, walking off to the path with the others following.

A low growl came from a dark area near the relic, everyone being unaware that they were being carefully watched in the shadows by glowing red eyes as they continued their way to the cabin.

Crickets, an owl, and their own footsteps were heard clearly in the silent woods as they hiked up the long path without a word.

_'__Thump, thump, thump.' _

Leorio began to study the scenery they passed by as Kiyoko fumbled with the white bag she's been carrying on her left shoulder, a flock of bats screeching as they flew away.

"Are you certain that we'll be able to reach to the Exam Hall by doing this?" Leorio asked, finally breaking the long silence.

"Look, it's another of those weird warning signs we've been seeing. Hey, Gon! You're walking so poised, but I hope you're not bringing us all to a path filled with these magical animals!"

Kuromi sighed and grabbed her head tiredly.

'Will he ever shut up?' she groaned, pissed off with all the complaints the man gave.

Kiyoko then gave a long tired sigh as well.

"Don't worry. There are no traces of them anywhere," Gon assured him.

"Then why are there warning signs that's about magical animals everywhere?" Leorio grumbled loud enough for them to hear.

"…. Anyways…. How are you able to see so well in this darkness?" Kurapika interrupted.

"My house was located deep in the mountain on Whale Island. It's always pitch black at night," Gon told the boy.

"Oh? So that was your house up there?" Kiyoko asked, remembering how she came upon a small house at the mountain.

"Yeah! I think I saw you pass by it s few times before! But the atmosphere of the woods at night is completely different here…"

The young boy stopped walking and looked ahead curiously.

"Ah, I found it!"

"Oh?"

"There's the lone cedar tree right over there with that cabin located underneath it!" Kurapika said.

* * *

Leorio knocked at the small log cabin's door repeatedly, earning no answer from the other side.

"Hello? Anyone home?"

"Are they out?" Gon asked curiously.

"I really don't think they are… It's pretty late out here," Kiyoko said, putting her hands on her hips and leaning on a leg.

"It's strange how they're not here. The old woman said that a couple lives here… What should we do now?" Kurapika asked.

"It doesn't look like other applicants got here yet. Hehe, looks like we're first! Well, I'm going in," Leorio said, grabbing onto the door knob and turning it slowly.

The man incautiously pushed open the doors with Gon, revealing a dark room as the only light source, the moon, entered.

"We're coming in!"

The four took a few steps into the building, seeing broken items scattered all around the ground. A magical beast stood before them with a hostage in hand and a man lying on the floor in front of it. The beast began cackling and turned over to look at the group, the woman in its arm struggling to break free.

"I-it's a magical beast!" Leorio exclaimed, everyone getting into a battle stance and pulling out their weapons.

"A magical beast?!" Gon asked.

"A transforming magical beast, the Kiriko. They can take on human form, an intelligent creature as well!" Kurapika noted.

"When the hell did it get here?!" Kuromi asked, taking over half of Kiyoko's body.

"There's a woman in its arm!" Gon pointed out.

"And that guy on the floor needs medical attention immediately…" Leorio said.

The Kiriko leaped out of the window behind it, shattering the glass to make its escape into the woods. The group ran over to the shattered window to look out for the animal as the man on the floor began to groan.

"P-please… Please save my wife…!" he asked desperately, reaching out before him as Leorio began searching through his suitcase.

Gon immediately took actions and jumped out of the window he stood at while Kurapika took off his messenger bag.

"Leorio! We'll leave the injured man in your care! Kiyoko or Kuromi, I can't even tell right now… Stay here and help!" the boy ordered, jumping out the window after Gon.

"Got it!" Leorio exclaimed.

Kuromi clicked her tongue and knelt down next to the man.

"Fine, but we're coming after you once we sense something wrong!" Kuromi yelled.

'FINE, FINE,' Kurapika yelled in a distant.

"Now, let's get you treated right away," Kiyoko said as Kuromi disappeared.

'Oh? A person who can alternate into a different person? Interesting…' the man thought.

* * *

The two boys chased after the Kiriko and it's hostage deeper into the woods, sprinting to catch up to the animal in front with their weapons out.

Finally losing sight of the magical beast, Gon and Kurapika stopped in the middle of the woods as they searched for the animal. Gon caught sight of the Kiriko with the corner of his eyes and turned over to the area it headed off to.

"Over there!" the young boy exclaimed, running off after the Kiriko.

"What?!" Kurapika said, standing there surprised.

'Amazing.. He's able to track down and sense the movements of the vague shadow, even through this dark forest...' the boy thought, running after Gon.

The young boy leaped up into the trees and traveled on from there, jumping from branch to branch as they caught back up to the Kiriko.

'Impressive...'

"KIRIKO, LET HER GO!" Gon yelled as he lined up with the beast on one side.

"Heh, take her away from me, IF YOU CAN!" it taunted, leaping ahead.

Gon started at the magical beast with a surprised face in the air, failing to grab onto the branch above him as he struggled to reach out for it. The boy fell and landed back onto his feet unscathed, Kurapika looking behind him as he ran ahead of Gon.

"Wow, it can talk!" Gon exclaimed, waving his fishing rod in front of him ad he caught up with the teen in no time.

That magical beast, or the Kiriko, is able to use human speech. That's why it's a magical animal," Kurapika told the boy.

"Oh! Well, that makes things a lot easier!" Gone exclaimed, running and leaping back up ahead.

"HEY, STUPID KIRIKO!" Gon yelled, getting its attention.

"What?!" it exclaimed.

Gon took the chance to immediately land a blow onto the Kiriko while it was being distracted, jumping above quickly and hitting it hard on the head with his fishing rod.

'H-he's fast!' it thought nervously.

The Kiriko dropped its hostage from the attack, causing the girl to fall straight to the floor head first.

"Kurapika!" Gon called, the boy leaping up to catch the falling girl and landing onto the ground kneeling safely.

The boy sighed and looked back at the other two landing on the tree branches.

'He's so reckless..' Kurapika muttered, holding the unconscious girl bridal style.

"Damn kid.. You'll pay for this!" the Kiriko exclaimed as it held on to its head.

The animal immediately leaped away from the branch it stood on and ran off to another area.

"Wait!" Gon said, following the animal.

* * *

"Hm? What's wrong, Kiyoko? Feeling uneasy again?" Leorio asked as he took out the wrapping bandages.

"Yeah, but it's a different reason…" Kiyoko said, looking at the doorway they came through. "Something's here."

Leorio looked outside to see nothing there, but nature buried in shadows.

"I'll go check. I KNOW something is here with us.." the girl said, dropping her bag onto the floor, pulling out and extending her staff along the way. "Don't worry, mister, we'll get your wife back."

The man looked at the girl a little impressed at her instincts and nodded at her.

"Please.. My wife.." he repeated desperately.

The girl then dashed outside the cabin and swung her staff at a bush, making contact with a camouflaged body. The hidden beast appeared before her and held the shoulder Kiyoko made contact with in pain.

"Hey, watch it, girl! You barely missed my head!" it exclaimed.

Kiyoko gave an innocent smile to the magical beast.

"Hm, don't worry, next time I won't miss it," Kiyoko warned, swinging her staff again as the beast disappeared.

"How did you know it was there?!" Leorio exclaimed from inside.

"Just leave that one to me and continue treating the man. I'll be back soon," Kiyoko said, running off.

The girl jumped up to a tree and scouted the area carefully, dropping back down to the ground and landing on her knee and foot.

'Ah… Where did it go…?' the girl thought to herself. 'I wonder how Gon and Kurapika are doing..'

'You know, you sure think a lot, Kiyoko,' Kuromi pointed out.

'Shh, I think I hear it…'

Kiyoko gripped her staff tighter with both her hands, standing still to listen for any movement. The girl stood up straight from her position, aware of the animal behind her, and spun her staff with her left, gracefully tossing it over to her right to swing.

"Like I said, I won't miss next time," Kiyoko taunted, looking behind her to see the Kiriko grabbing its head.

"Let's play a game," the girl proposed, her voice clear from negativity.

"A game?" it asked confusedly.

Kiyoko smiled brightly and nodded, hiding her intimidated vibe from the beast before her.

"Yes, a game."

Kiyoko's appearance fully changed to Kuromi's, a playful smirked appearing on her face and her petrified aura disappearing.

"It's called 'Tag'. I'll be it, forever and always," the girl said, her voice turning cold.

The Kiriko's eyes widened a little and lowered back down immediately, not wanting to give the girl the reaction she was looking for. The girl immediately took off before it got to react and kicked the beast in its face, jabbing the staff into its stomach after landing the impact with her leg. The sudden powerful jab caused the Kiriko to fly off into a tree trunk, sliding back onto the ground on it's knee after colliding with it. The magical beast looked up to the negative girl with distaste as she gave an innocent smile to it before flashing a smile that struck a nerve of disturbance in the Kiriko's chest.

"This isn't even 'Tag' anymore!" it exclaimed, trying to attack the girl with its long claws and running off to a different area.

"Exactly," Kuromi said, wiping at the scratch she earned on her cheek.

A wide smile crossed the girl's face as she licked the blood away from her thumb and stood at her spot for a while to allow the Kiriko to get some distance.

'This girl, she's a devil!' the Kiriko muttered to itself, leaping up into a tree and looking back cautiously.

Kuromi followed the animal a few seconds later and leaped up to the tree the beast stood in. The girl jumped up behind it when it became unaware of her presence and she raised up her right leg high as she pushed off the ground hard, dropping a heavy kick on top of the beast's head once again, falling back down and landing onto the ground with it. The Kiriko made contact with the ground first on it's back as Kuromi landed on her foot and knee perfectly fine.

"I'll get you sooner or later…" it growled as it stood up and shook it's head painfully, disappearing once again before Kuromi landed another hit with her staff.

Kuromi clicked her tongue at its escape and began to dash forward to follow it, being stopped by Kiyoko.

'Leave it. For now. We need to get back to Leorio-san and the man back at the cabin soon. Kurapika and Gon will take care of this,' Kiyoko reminded her other self.

"That thing was boring anyways. Not even worthy to be my prey," Kuromi said bluntly, returning the body back to the owner.

The girl touched the cut on her face again and turned back to return to the cabin.

'Prey huh? Best not to label anything else as a prey.. This cut stings...' the girl thought.

'Really?' Kuromi asked sarcastically.

Kiyoko let out a chuckled at the sarcastic remark and walked off from the location they ended up at.

"Hopefully it isn't scared of playing games like 'Tag' after all this.. Next time, don't lick off the blood, please. I hate the metallic taste of blood," Kiyoko said, twirling her staff and tossing it back between hands.

Kuromi snickered at the mention of a beast fearing a small childish game.

Kiyoko entered the now lit up cabin when Leorio was injecting medicine into the man's arm. The man winced at the shot of antibiotics and relaxed his face right after it was pulled out.

"I wish I didn't see that…." Kiyoko said, looking at the shattered window as she got closer to the two.

The two men looked up to see the girl entering the cabin casually, the extended staff still in her hand and a leaking scratch on her cheek.

"Oi, did you get the magical beast?" Leorio asked as he packed up the now unnecessary equipment and took out a cotton swab.

"Yes, but I allowed it to escape."

The man shot a scared look at the girl as she knelt down next to him.

"E-escape?! WHY?" he practically yelled.

"Don't worry, it's not the same Kiriko Gon and Kurapika were after. It hasn't done anything wrong yet, but I ended up attacking first before it did anything," Kiyoko answered as she allowed him to clean up her wound.

"Well, it still could kill us all, you know!" Leorio said. "And look, you have a pretty deep cut on your cheek!"

"… I think I was too harsh on it. Hmm, oh well. It needed a warning before it messed with us anyways."

Leorio sighed at the girl's calm answers and covered up her wound with a clean cotton patch and tape to hold it down.

"I wonder if Kurapika would kill you if he heard this.." Leorio said.

"If he was here, he wouldn't lecture me. Kurapika-kun barely even knows me and we warned him we would take actions if something strange was going on."

The two participants stared at each other silently, Kiyoko having the usual smile she displayed and Leorio glowering at the girl a little. Kiyoko didn't falter the expression on her face and tucked her staff back into her ribbon. The man stuck out his lower lip and looked away disappointingly as he closed up his brief case in defeat.

"...Anyways, this should be fine for now, but you need antibiotics for that injury" Leorio told the man. "Is there any Midoguda herbs that grow around here?"

"Yes, there is but… It's quite far and magical animals might be present," the man answered.

"How can I take the Hunter Exam if I'm afraid of those things?" Leorio said, earning a certain look from Kiyoko.

"But.. My wife.. My wife is…!" the man sobbed.

Kiyoko looked over to the man curiously as she took in the tone of his voice, observing it carefully.

'….. This is hard to tell… But I think he's hiding something…' Kuromi said.

"Don't worry, Gon and Kurapika went after them. They'll get her back safely and return shortly.." Leorio assured he man.

"Anyways, where is the place those herbs grow?"

Kiyoko smiled awkwardly and looked back outside the door. The man stopped crying and looked at Leorio and Kiyoko.

".. It grows near the base of a cliff in these woods. Just head straight from here."

"Alright, I'll be back soon then. Kiyoko look after him for me," the man instructed, running out the cabin with a basket and some supplies in hand.

"Okay," the girl answered.

The two sat quietly in the cabin until Kiyoko stood up and faced the 'injured' man.

"You're hiding something…. Aren't you?" Kiyoko suddenly asked. "I noticed that there are more than one Kirikos working together."

The man looked at the girl with wide eyes and immediately looked away.

"Hiding what?" he asked calmly, unaware of the girl's focus.

"I know you're hiding something, don't try to lie to me."

The man stared for a while and finally stood up, slowly walking out the open doorway of the cabin and stood on the porch for a bit.

'What is he..-'

The girl suddenly cut herself off as the man began to change into another Kiriko, flying off after Leorio.

"Crap! I should've seen that coming!" the girl said, running out to the front.

'Kiyoko, change to a Lynith to catch up with him quickly. The path ahead may be difficult for you to move fast,' Kuromi told the girl.

Kiyoko hesitantly thought about the suggestion and decided to obey, turning into the glowing white rabbit-lynx and dashing off to track Leorio's location with scent and sound.

* * *

The beast flew up from behind Leorio and landed before the rope he used to climb down the cliff, grabbing it right after.

'W-what?' Leorio asked himself.

Kiyoko sprinted off on the route up to the cliff Leorio was instructed to take and heard Leorio say something from the distance she was at.

'Hey you, magical beast! That wound was a fraud to trick us wasn't it?! It's so miserable that I treated you without knowing it!' Leorio said.

The girl was now at a hearing range where she was able to listen to Leorio's assumptions clearly, rushing over as quickly as possible.

'Wings! I hate flying freaks!' Kuromi complained.

"What are you talking about?" the beast asked.

"You're that husband at the cabin, aren't you?!" Leorio concluded. "That needle mark on your arm is proof!"

The beast's eyes widened as he looked over at his arm, Leorio pulling out his knife from his pocket to cut the basket on his back. The man threw the basket-filled herbs at the beast's face and pulled himself up from the cliff, running up and pointing his knife at its neck.

"It looks like the tide has been turned, game over for you," Leorio said.

Kiyoko finally reached the top and ran up to the two, pinning the Kiriko onto the floor with her scythe shaped tail as Leorio began to freak out.

"A-ANOTHER?!" he exclaimed pointing the knife over at the Lynith.

The girl returned back to normal, still having her tall ears and long tail present from the form earlier, and held up he hands defensively.

"Relax, it's just me. Not so much of a secret anymore, huh," Kiyoko said, waiting for the ears and tail to finally fade.

"No wonder we hate flying objects and animals... They get to cut through the sky.." Kiyoko said, running a hand through her hair. "Looks like you won't be able to pull off a trick on us now. I've locked you in place with my tail. One move and you'll be injured."

Cackling and laughter could be hear from a distance in the woods, Kiyoko's white ears twitching as the voice echoed all around. Kiyoko looked over to where the noise came from and smiled at the trapped Kiriko, her tails and ears finally fading. The girl help the magical beast up and stuck out her hand in front of the beast and herself.

"Looks like it's over," Kiyoko said as she waited for the animal to respond.

The magical beast stayed quiet for a second and nodded at her statement, returning back to the form of the husband and shaking her hand.

"Indeed it is."

* * *

"Hm….. How many years have passed since someone was able to identify us?" one of the Kiriko asked.

"I'm actually overjoyed!" the other replied.

'H-hey, can you tell the difference between their voices and appearances?" Leorio asked Kurapika and Kiyoko, leaning over and glancing over at the two with his arms crossed.

"No, not at all…" Kurapika answered, glancing back at the man.

"I'm out on this as well…" Kiyoko said, staring confusedly at the two Kirikos.

"You see, the husband was the one Kurapika and I beat up," the young boy said, pointing at the two beasts.

'And it looks like I took on the wife then..' Kiyoko muttered.

'….. Which one are you talking about…?' the group asked Gon confusedly.

"Allow us to introduce ourselves. We are the navigators. Our family provides support for the Hunter Exam," the husband said.

"I'm their daughter!" the woman with the tattoos said, raising her hand.

"And I'm their son!" the man said, raising his.

"Wow, oh man, you had us fooled," Leorio said, lifting up his arms.

"You see, the Exam changes location every year. It's quite difficult to locate it," a Kiriko said, raising a finger up.

"So we Navigators help by escorting attendees to the site," the other added, doing the same thing as the last.

"Oh, so that's how it works…" Gon said in an amazed tone.

"But the thing is we don't help every single candidate. We have to test them first to see if they are eligible for the exam, " the daughter said. "Kurapika-dono."

"Yes," the boy answered.

"You've successfully used the most indistinct hints to dictate that we weren't a married couple. These tattoos were the hints, which mark a woman a single for life in this region," the girl said rubbing at the tattoo. "Kurapika-dono displayed that he is very intelligent, therefore he passes."

The group sighed at the news in relief. "Good job, Kurapika!" Gon exclaimed, raising a fist up.

"Thanks," the boy replied, bumping his fist with the younger boy.

"Leorio-dono."

"Y-yes!" the man said stiffly.

"You never actually realized my true identity like Kiyoko-dono," the son said, making the man freak out and his sister laugh. "However, you dressed my injuries quicker and very precise than any other doctors. More importantly, you continued to reassure me that my wife was safe."

"S-stop it… That's embarrassing.." the man said, modestly pushing up his glasses and looking away.

The group smiled at Leorio's reaction and continued to listen to the results of their test.

"You're kindness makes you eligible to take the exam. Thereby, you also pass," the man finished.

"R-really?" Leorio exclaimed.

'Thank god…' he sighed, dropping to the ground weakly.

"You did it!" Gon exclaimed, giving the same gesture to Leorio he gave to Kurapika.

The man sat on the floor and smiled, returning the fist bump to the boy while Kurapika watched the two.

"Like I said earlier, Kiyoko-dono, you seemed to catch on the act without any hints being displayed as well as being able to react quickly and landing a blow on a hidden Kiriko."

"Oh right… Sorry about that…" Kiyoko apologized, bowing down to the family.

"You noticed I was hiding something from you and Leorio-dono, deciding to go after me to protect Leorio even if you put your life on the line as a beast yourself," the son hinted. "A sparing and benevolent spirit you are."

Kiyoko nodded and looked away awkwardly at the mention of her ability.

"A beast?" Kurapika asked curiously.

"What does he mean?" Gon questioned the girl.

Leorio smiled at the girl and gestured her to do as she pleases.

"I have the ability to turn into a Lynith, a rabbit-lynx beast. Honestly, it feels like a curse because only a few people can turn into one," she told everyone, turning into a Lynith and back.

"It's good to have a heart to protect everyone you trust that's around you, so I'd say you pass," the man said.

"Oh, so you didn't use Kuromi, but that animal this time?" Gon asked, jumping at the girl as her tail straightened out at the surprise hug.

"But that's not all," the wife suddenly said, the group looking at her curiously.

"I also had a piece of her combat skills, very skillful indeed. You attacked my shoulder first as a warning, didn't you, Kiyoko-dono?" the Kiriko asked.

Kiyoko gave a small nod and allowed an apologetic smile cross her face once again.

"You were able to locate me once I entered the area near this cabin and you also have plenty of stealth to even scare me! You're fighting skills and calm demeanor is quiet useful for a lot of things. Your warning was able to make me think twice before acting, an impressive act indeed. You pass, Kiyoko-dono," the wife said.

"A-ah, right.. that wasn't all me," Kiyoko said, scratching her white ears as it finally began to fade.

"May I ask a question?" the son asked.

"Go ahead," Kiyoko answered.

"You seem to have the ability to switch between people, does that somehow give you different strengths and weak spots?"

Kiyoko shook her head and smiled.

"It's not an ability, it's actually a disorder," Kiyoko said, pointing at her head as she allowed Kuromi to take over. "I have split personalities. This here is Kuromi, the one who bears all negative feelings for me. She loves to take fights head on, unlike me. I never bothered fighting, so even I didn't know about my own strength until then. The second half of the chase was all on her."

The family hummed and nodded understandingly as Kuromi returned to her spirit form.

"I bid you good wishes to not suffer any bad damages," the daughter said with a smile.

"Thank you very much," the girl replied back, earning a nudge from each of the boys.

"And finally, Gon-dono," the husband said.

"Yes!" the boy exclaimed.

"Your superhuman physical skills and powers of observation make you honorable to take this Exam… You pass," the Kiriko concluded.

The group smiled at the boy's results and each gave a fist bump to each other, Kiyoko hugging the small boy as they did so.

"We will now take you to the Hunters' Exam site," the husband said, carrying Gon and Kiyoko in the air.

The wife carried, Kurapika while the son and daughter carried a struggling Leorio, everyone taking off into the night sky.

"Isn't it great that we all passed?" Gon asked everyone.

"It's way too early to celebrate. We've simply just earned the right to take the actual exam," Kurapika said.

"That's quite true-"

"What's wrong with celebrating just a little bit? We are advancing after all," Leorio asked, cutting off Kiyoko's sentence.

"Honestly… People like you really should think," Kurapika sighed disappointedly.

"Hey! Why must you always be such a smart-ass?!" Leorio exclaimed, kicking the air as he did so and dragging the two Kirikos down with him.

"Stop struggling! If we drop you, don't blame us but yourself!" the male Kiroko exclaimed.

Gon began to laugh at the scene before him as Kiyoko smiled and held in her giggle, Kurapika closing his eyes and looking away.

'Troublesome pest..' Kuromi said.

* * *

**Is there anything I need to change or fix in my story(s)? Let me know! Also go ahead and criticize my work(s). C:**

****Notes/Questions:**

**I would like to ask something:**

**Would it be better if I didn't follow the anime (1999 and 2011) for my story?**

**It seems unoriginal to follow the anime, right?**

**I was thinking about it and felt like if I followed the anime, people wouldn't find the story to be interesting. I'm sure other people did the same thing I did/am doing and it's starting to itch me a bit.**

**If I continue with the story as it is, should I change up the exams?**

**It wouldn't be as good as the original though, I'll say that much.**

**Would you like more of Kurapika's view on Kiyoko/Kuromi?**

**I'm starting to add in the other characters' point of view as well little by little.**

**I'm just curious about your thoughts and opinions. I'll update whenever I have time meaning updates are random, mainly during weekends at 12 AM or something. -I stay up pretty late to finish everything (homework, sketches, writing and proof reading my stories, doing chores)- Feel free to criticize my work anytime, I won't be bothered and will take it to mind. c:**

**Thanks for reading, I'll be sure to update soon! ^^ Might as well and delete this note in the future. -shrug-**

_**~stormy003**_


	6. Chapter 5

Finally arriving at their designated location, Zaban City, three of the Kirikos returned to the peak of the hill where the lone cedar tree sat while one of them, the son, stayed back to guide the group to the exam site. The said Kiriko returned to his human form and took out a piece of paper from his vest.

"Alright, let's go to the exam hall now," he said, motioning the applicants towards the crowd.

The group followed the man quietly to their destination; Kurapika close behind and looking ahead, Leorio behind the Kurta looking over to his left with his briefcase over his right shoulder, Kiyoko looking ahead following behind Leorio, and Gon right behind the girl, smiling brightly.

"The job of the navigators is to identify worthy challengers for the Hunter Exam and to lead them to the site," the man began to explain.

Gon began to look at his surroundings with excitement and awe, taking in everything he could with his two big brown eyes. The young boy tugged on Kiyoko's long flowing shirt, grabbing her attention, and began to point out strange looking items at random stalls.

"This also means that it would be exceedingly wearisome for a person to reach the halls without us navigators' help," the man finished, looking over his shoulder to look at the others, Gon wandering off.

"Hey, want to try one of these?" a man from a stand called.

Gon immediately dashed over to the stall and leaned over the counter in delight as he stared at the cooked panda-frog.

"It's Zaban's well-known Panda-Frog-On-A-Stick! A true delicacy!" he finished, Gon trying to push himself up higher to get a closer look.

The boy suddenly looked over to the front left and ran over to a young woman's stand to see her own products.

"Zaban's most precious and beautiful brooch! I bet you that it's a national treasure here," the lady told Gon.

"You know, this place is quite a shady place…." Leorio said, looking at the stalls and scenes before him.

"Profitable cities usually attracts all kinds of nasty people," Kurapika answered, dragging Kiyoko in between him and Leorio.

"Uwahhhh!" Gon let out as he began running around to check out other stalls.

"What are you doing, Gon? We're going!" Leorio said, everyone looking back to see the boy looking at more food.

"Okay!" the boy replied, running back to the group.

* * *

As they got closer and closer to the examination site, Gon told and explained all the displayed items and food he saw to Kiyoko, making hand gestures to emphasize the entire explanation.

"Tsubashi Town, 2510…. Let's see…. I found it. I believe that is the building of the exam hall," the man said as he looked at the paper in his hand and pointed blindly ahead.

"Huh?" Leorio said, everyone else grunting a little with surprise.

Gon's curious face expression switched into a wide smile as he looked at a tall fancy building before them all, sighing a little with awe.

"Uwahhhh! It's so tall!" he exclaimed childishly. "They have a really nice building!"

"Just like what I expected from the real hall! Even the entrance looks awesome!" Leorio exclaimed out of nowhere.

"It's so cool!" Gon chimed.

"So this is the exam site…." Leorio said. "This is what drags.."

"Tough hunter participants from the entire world…" Kurapika finished the sentence.

Kiyoko noticed the navigator walking away from the taller building and towards a shorter building, looking at everyone confusedly.

'Ah, uh.. Guys..? I don't…' the girl began quietly, sighing when no wonder heard her.

"My first shot to the Hunter Exam…. Was this how dad felt when he first set foot on site?" the boy asked, feeling adrenaline shoot through his veins.

"Hey, guys, that's not it," the navigator called.

Kiyoko looked away from everyone guiltily as the boys looked over to the navigator curiously.

"Hmm?" they all hummed confusedly.

"Over here."

"What?" they said again.

"The entrance is actually next door," the man said, pointing at a ramen shop.

Everyone looked over to the little shop curiously, disappointment rushing up to their chests as Kiyoko sighed at their reactions.

"WHATTT?" they exclaimed in sync.

"Whoa, wait. This isn't funny. Isn't that just an ordinary restaurant?" Leorio asked as he walked over to the man, the others tailing his back. "You can't be serious that Hunter participants from all around the world are to assemble here? Of all places?"

The navigator still had a smile spread across his face as they all turned their heads to face the shop.

"I do."

"Huh?" the boys said, jaws dropping open as they looked at the man.

"It's just that no one would think that the Hunter Exam, with the million plus candidates, is to be located in this ramen shop, right?" the navigator asked.

"T-that's true.." Leorio answered, everyone looking back at the shop.

The Kiriko walked up to the shop and slid the door open, motioning them all to come in.

"Welcome!" the chef called as the door closed shut.

"Good afternoon!" the woman at the counter greeted.

The customers looked over to the new visitors when they heard movement from the door and went back to eating right after. Leorio looked around the shop for a bit and frowned.

"Is the back room available?" the navigator asked.

"What will you have?" the cook asked, looking up from the frying food.

"The steak combo that open's your eyes to the light.. for four," he said, holding up his fingers.

Gon, Leorio, Kurapika, and Kiyoko stared at the two men confusedly and looked at each other for answers.

"For four….." he repeated slowly.

"How would you like them…?" the man in white asked as his face got serious.

"Grilled over a low flame, until cooked," the navigator said with a smirk, pointing a finger up.

"Got it, go ahead and allow yourselves into the back room," the chef accepted, looking back at the wide pan.

The navigator walked across the shop with the others following him through the aisle, Gon looking around curiously.

"Please, right this way!" the waiter said, showing the door to the group.

The navigator opened the door to the vacant room and allowed the four applicants to walk in first. The small room had a table in the center and three chairs surrounding it.

"Wait here," he said.

"Wait? Where are the others? Are you sure this is right?" Leorio asked.

"This is it. The appearance usually takes the participants by surprise."

"I can't wait for the steak combo!" Gon exclaimed, Kiyoko chuckling nervously at the boy.

"Gon, that was just a password for us to enter this room.." Kurapika told the child.

"Oh… So we don't get to eat anything?" he asked disappointedly, pouting a little.

"Looks like we don't," Kiyoko said, chuckling a little and patting Gon's shoulder lightly.

"One in every ten thousand…" the man suddenly said.

"Hmm?" Gon hummed, looking back behind him.

"That's the probability number of applicants who make it this far," the feminine looking boy continued, everyone looking behind them to look the man. "For first timers, you've all done extremely well. I'd be glad to help guide you again next year…. Catch these!" the navigator said, throwing a tag at all of them.

The four raised up their hands curiously; Leorio successfully catching numbers 403 and 406 and handing 406 to Kiyoko, Kurapika catching number 404, and Gon having number 405 land on his forehead. The group held their tags and looked at it blankly.

"Well, good luck."

Gon smiled at the man and stuck out his hand in between the two.

"Kiriko-san, thanks!"

The man looked at the boy confusedly and trailed his eyes to his stuck out hand, accepting the handshake and giving a smile at the four.

"You're very welcome. If we ever get the chance to, we'll see each other again. Good bye," he said, waving at them all and closing the door behind him.

'Huh, what?' the group muttered as the room suddenly began to shake a little and lower itself further down.

"It seems to be that this room is.. an elevator…" Kurapika noted.

'No really?' Kuromi muttered.

Everyone looked over to the boy's direction to see a count at the top of the elevator's back wall slowly adding up.

"I see…." Kiyoko said.

'That bastard… He meant that we're expected to fail the exam this year…' Leorio mumbled disappointedly, sitting in one of the chairs.

"Once every three years," Kurapika said, sitting down across from him.

"What was that?"

"It's the rate of which a rookie passes this exam," Kurapika answered.

"Eh?" Leorio said, leaning over a bit.

"It's that unusual?" Gon asked, sitting in the last empty seat after Kiyoko offered.

"Some can't tolerate the physical and mental strain in the exam. It's also no surprise for veterans to crush the rookies who inevitably never participate in the test a second time," Kurapika explained. "They can't deal with the physical beating they've gained."

'Physical and mental strains? Ha, those weaklings,' Kuromi said.

'Kuro…. They aren't like us where we deal with this every day, you know?' Kiyoko said.

"So I guess every attendees are willing to risk everything to become a hunter.." Gon said.

"That's pretty much it, Gon, and they all must have reasons to do so too," Kiyoko said, leaning onto the table.

"BUT OF COURSE, MY FRIENDS!" Leorio suddenly yelled, slamming his hands onto the table and causing the girl to remove her hands immediately. "HUNTERS MAKE THE MOST MONEY IN THE ENTIRE WORLD!"

Gon and Kiyoko stared at the man confusedly and blinked as they both grabbed onto the straps of the bag and backpack.

'Here comes Smart Mouth and Pesky McBastard,' Kuromi sighed.

'Kuromiii…'

"No!" Kurapika suddenly butted in, catching everyone's attention.

Gon raised an eyebrow at the sudden shout and looked at the teen curiously.

"Hunters are the most virtuous and honorable in this world!" Kurapika countered, trying hard not to raise his voice as he stood up from his own seat and slammed his hands on the table next.

"Grr….. Glory hog!" Leorio growled.

"Money-grubber!" Kurapika negated.

The two leaned closer to each other angrily, shifting their weight onto their arms for support on the table. Gon looked between the two with a blank expression written on his face, an eyebrow still raised up high with his lips part to an 'O'. Kiyoko looked at the two boys worriedly and sighed, leaving them alone.

"Gon! Listen…" Leorio said as he ran over to the boy and slammed his hand back onto the rotating tray in the center of the table.

The man leaned in uncomfortably close to the boy, making him panic a little and move back against Kiyoko's stomach involuntarily, Kiyoko holding onto his shoulder. The boy's face was written with disgust as Leorio continued to speak and spit a little with every word he hissed.

"Every year, over fifty hunters make it to the list of the world's HUNDRED RICHEST PEOPLE!" he said, raising his voice.

Kurapika grabbed onto the tray and rotated it to get the man away from the young boy and the girl.

"O-OHHH!" he said, sounding like he just got kicked at a certain spot boys wouldn't like to get kicked at.

Gon returned to his original position, sitting up straight, and looked at Kurapika listening to his explanation as Leorio glared at the teen.

"Hunters are correlated with hunting wild game and treasure, but they are all second-rate," the boy said. "True real hunters work to protect people and the natural orders of life!"

Leorio suddenly pounced at the two candidates that had nothing to do with the debate again, making Gon flinch at his action and lean back onto Kiyoko again. The girl's hair slowly became messed up and slid off her shoulder, onto her back as the surprise hand slams kept coming.

"Now, look here…. Once you've become a hunter, most countries will give you a free pass!" he exclaimed, leaning in even closer to the boy. "And that means no charge for the use of public provisions! How about those conveniences?!"

Kurapika grabbed onto the tray again and rotated it to remove the man from his place, allowing Gon to sit back up straight once more.

"Awughhh!"

"Hunters have many strenuous and crucial authorities," the boy fought back, pointing a finger up into the air," such as preserving cultural artifacts and endangered species as well as imprisoning wanted criminals and disreputable hunters."

Leorio ran back up to the young boy for a second time and planted his hands back onto the rotating tray.

"The fame and money…!" he exclaimed, Gon backing up once again. "That's why people desire to become hunters!"

The man looked over to Kurapika angrily and stayed in the position a little longer.

"Overwhelming intelligence, a healthy mind and body, uncompromising stance. THOSE ARE THE TRAITS ON WHICH HUNTERS SATISFY THEMSELVES WITH!" the Kurta said, finally letting the rest of his rage out and leaning in really close.

The two older applicants growled at each other as they moved their face closer to each other.

"GON! KIYOKO! WHAT DO YOU THINK?" the both of them exclaimed at the two, turning their heads to face them.

Kurapika and Leorio slammed a fist onto the table and leaned in as close as possible to the youngest boy and the only girl.

"WHICH KIND OF HUNTER DO YOU HOPE TO BE?!" they asked, never breaking the synchronization.

The young boy nervously held onto his backpack straps tightly, a hand holding onto Kiyoko's periwinkle shirt mindlessly, as he gave them both a nervous smile. Kiyoko looked frightened at the two's outbursts and allowed Kuromi to take over temporarily.

"Me? Answer: it'll remain unknown. And quit yelling, it's bothering Kiyoko, bird brains," Kuromi said, looking away with attitude.

Kurapika and Leorio glowered at the girl and returned their attentions to Gon right after.

"…E-eh…? W-well, when you put it that way…."

_'DING!'_

The elevator finally reached to B100 and halted to a complete stop.

"I think we've arrived," Kurapika said casually as Kuromi returned to Kiyoko's appearance.

"We'll continue this later," Leorio said, finally calming down.

"Haaaa…!"

Gon finally broke into a regular smile and gave a long relieved sigh, Kiyoko rubbing her head tiredly. The elevator doors opened up before the four to reveal a dark room filled with hunter applicants both vacant and rookies. All eyes were now on the four first timers as their presence became know to them all. The group stepped out of the elevator room and into the dark tense room, stopping at a spot near the closing elevator doors and looked around the entire area.

"Strange place down here…" Leorio said casually.

"They clearly contradict from those other applicants we saw at the port and in the city," Kurapika said. "Each is a master in their own right…"

The girl in the group began to fidget nervously with her bag straps, trying to ignore the discomforting vibe lingering in the air.

"Excuse me…" Gon began, walking forward to the crowd and holding his hand out a little.

Everyone glowered at the new arrivers for a bit and ignored them, looking away.

"Everyone here is really tense…" Gon said as the group stuck their tags onto their chest.

Kiyoko looked around nervously and hid behind Leorio, peaking at the others once in a while.

'If only there weren't so many people…. It's getting hot in here….' Kiyoko thought awkwardly.

'More like you're getting uncomfortable with those glares. Calm down, Kiyo.'

"Scared or something, Black Cat?" Leorio asked the girl, glaring at her a little.

Kiyoko jumped a little at the man's question and looked up at him innocently, but obviously unnerved. Leorio noticed the amber hue in her eyes and widened his eyes a bit.

"A-ah sorry, Kiyoko. I thought you were still Kuromi," the man apologized.

'D-do you really think I'm bad luck and heartless?' she asked quietly, trying to stand up straight, but failing to do so.

"N-no! Not at all!" he excused.

The girl, clearly still hurt and anxious, didn't take Leorio's words and walked over to Kurapika, lightly tugging at his talbard a little.

"Hm? What is it?" the boy asked, looking behind him curiously.

"I-is it alright if I stick with you for a bit, Kurapika-kun?" Kiyoko asked awkwardly, still looking at her surroundings and now adding Leorio into her lookout list.

Kurapika remained quiet and looked over at Leorio to see him rub the back of his neck guiltily. The boy suddenly sighed silently and looked back at the girl to see tears pricking the corners of her eyes.

"A-ah, what's wrong? Are you intimidated by these people? Did Leorio say something again?" the boy asked, putting his hands up in front of him frantically.

Kiyoko nodded an unnoticeable nod and rubbed her eyes, trying to calm down and get use to the atmosphere as the boy shot a glare at the man.

"Hmmm… You can stick with Gon or me if you like. Now calm down, you're too stiff," the boy said, patting the timid girl's head and giving a small smile.

"Be sure to wear your number tags on your chest at all times, guys, and be careful not to lose it!" a green being said, walking around the area.

"I haven't seen you guys around here before," a voice called, making an impotent Kiyoko jump and grab at Kurapika frighteningly.

"H-ha?! OOF!"

The four looked over behind them to see a fat man in blue sitting on a ledge at the top of the room.

"Hey!" he said, Kiyoko letting go of the boy and releasing a relief sigh.

"You can tell we're new?" Gon asked, everyone walking towards the big, but short man.

"More or less."

The man jumped off from where he sat and landed on the floor without a problem, walking over to the four.

"After all, this is going to be my thirty-fifth attempt," he told them, smiling brightly.

"THIRTY-FIFTH TIME?!" the group asked, Gon and Leorio practically yelling.

"Ah, well, you could say that I'm an exam veteran, so I know everyone's faces quiet well.." he said, putting a hand on his chest and the other up next to him.

'That's not something you should be bragging about….' Leorio muttered, leaning over to Kurapika.

'Indeed..' the boy agreed quietly.

Kiyoko stared at the man with an eyebrow raised at his statement.

"If you have any questions, feel free to ask!" the man offered.

"Thanks!" Gon said.

"The name's Tonpa," he introduced himself, offering a handshake to the young boy.

"I'm Gon! These are Kiyoko, Kurapika, and Leorio!" the boy introduced, turning over to look at them all.

The three behind Gon decided to give a small nod as to greet the stranger named Tonpa.

"Nice to meet you all!" he said, offering a handshake with them all as they accepted the gesture awkwardly, Leorio waving it off.

"There's so many people here…." Gon said, looking around.

"Well, with you guys around, that makes 406 participants here," the man pointed out.

"Hey, Tonpa-san, are there any others here who've taken on the exam multiple times like you?" Gon asked, looking back at the man.

"Well, I have the most experience here, but there are a few others," Tonpa began, pointing over to his right. "Take him as an example…. Number 255, Todo the wrestler."

The group looked over to where Tonpa was pointing at and saw an oversized man casually eating food with a frown on his face.

'He's frowned too much to the point where his face is stuck like that, haha!' Kuromi laughed.

"He's unequaled in brute strength and he's actually smarter than how he looks to be. On the opposite side, we have number 103," Tonpa said, now pointing to his left,"Bourbon, the snake charmer. He often holds resentments, so careful not to end up on his nasty side."

They all looked over to the left to see the man sitting at his spot quietly with his eyes closed. Bourbon's snake suddenly lifted its head up and hissed, sending a chill to Leorio and Kiyoko's body.

"Number 191, Bodoro, the kung-fu master. He may be getting old, but there isn't a better martial artist around here compared to him," Tonpa said, pointing at the old man.

'Kiyokooooo, he's boring meeeeeee,' Kuromi complained.

"And over there, you have the three brothers, Amori, Imori, and Umori. They perform consistently well together all thanks to their unbreakable teamwork," the man said, everyone looking at the color coded brothers.

"Last for now is number 384, Gerreta, the huntsman. He specializes in killing all types of creatures with just blow darts and a club," Tonpa pointed out, the group looking at the dark colored skin man as he fixed his club.

"There are a lot more, but these guys are the ones who took on the test most," Tonpa finished.

"Ehh…..!" Gon replied.

A tall man in dark colored clothing walked by the five participants silently and bumped his shoulder guard into a strange looking man's shoulder, ignoring the contact. Tonpa began telling more little info to the group as they suddenly heard a blood curdling scream from where the man was headed to. The crowd in the entire room curiously directed their line of sight to where the scream came from only to see the man's arms disintegrate to red bits of flowers.

"Oh, how remarkable…" a tall slim, but built man said, smirking at the sight before him. "It looks like his arms became flower petals… No smoke or mirror over here."

The red headed man uncrossed his arms and opened them up to show the crowd nothing in hand. Gon gasped and stared at the man with a shocked look across his face.

"Do take care.." the man said as he began to lower his voice, a smug look being formed. "When you bump into someone, you should, really, apologize.."

The crowd looked at the man disgustedly and kept away from him.

'Now that guy there is a creep,' Kuromi said, burning in the man's appearance.

"It looks like that psychopath is back again," Tonpa said, glowering at him.

"Again?" Gon asked, the group looking back at the man.

"Does that mean he took the exam last year as well?" Kurapika asked curiously, Leorio patting Kiyoko's trembling back.

"Number 44, Hisoka, the magician. Last year, he was a practical lock to pass the test until he decided to kill a proctor he despised and disabled about 20 other applicants," Tonpa explained.

"A-and they're allowing him to retake the exam this year after all that?!" Leorio exclaimed, accidentally shoving Kiyoko.

The boys looked at the frightened man as he balled up his hand into a fist tightly.

"W-WHOA!" the girl exclaimed, making contact with the floor.

"Of course… Every year, the examiners and test contents change and those new examiners are there to choose the new content. The devil himself could pass if that were the decision the examiners makes… That's just how this exam works," Tonpa replied. "Anyways no one likes him and you should stay away as well."

Gon and Kurapika helped the girl up as she rubbed her arms and face in pain.

'He looks dangerous, that's for sure…' Leorio muttered, earning a slap from Kuromi before she returned the body.

"Oh right..! A little something to indicate our companionship!" Tonpa exclaimed, digging through his messenger bag. "How about it?"

Kiyoko glanced at the man and frowned at his sudden exclaim while Gon smiled at the man ignorantly. Kurapika just stood there and stared at the man cautiously as he pulled out a can of juice.

"Oh, very much appreciated!" Leorio replied, turning to face Tonpa.

"It just happens to be that I was thirsty…." Leorio pointed out, accepting the can.

"Thanks!" Gon said, accepting the item from Tonpa.

"Thank you…." Kurapika said quietly.

Kiyoko took the can and nodded a small thanks as people in the crowd began to snicker and whisper to each other.

'It seems like they've fallen into his trap once again… Always playing the nice guy despite being the nastiest person here… Tonpa, the rookie crusher..' someone mumbled, no one catching their words.

"Well, best of luck to all of us!" Tonpa exclaimed, raising up his can.

The new participants rose up their own can of juice and made a toast with the man, bringing it back down right after. Everyone opened their cans as Kiyoko carefully eyed Tonpa and Kurapika looked over to the other two boys curiously.

'The juice I gave these idiots contains extremely heavy laxative… ' the man thought to himself.

'Hey, Kiyoko?' Kuromi asked. 'Are you really going to drink it? I mean you already know he's hiding something, after all he's filled with holes. Are you going to tell them?' Kuromi asked.

'Ehhh.. Of course I'm not going to drink it. Besides, Gon has incredible senses and Kurapika-kun probably caught on with this,' Kiyoko answered, looking over at the two.

'I doubt Mr. Greedy over there knows…' Kuromi snickered.

'Let him be. He'll be fine… I think.' Kiyoko held up her can close to her face and studied the smirking man, sighing at how obvious he could be. 'Really, even that Matthew guy kept the negative quality of his voice and face hidden.. This guy is just outright stupid, leaving it out in the open.'

Gon took a sip from the can and stopped, noticing something strange about the juice.

"Bwehh…." the young boy groaned, allowing the liquid to spill out of his mouth like a waterfall.

Tonpa's face expression changed to shock as he jumped at the reaction he earned.

"H-huh?!"

'See? Gon's fine,' Kiyoko told Kuromi.

"O-oh, oops!" the girl said, allowing her can of juice to slip out of her hand and spill all over the floor.

Kiyoko looked over to Leorio and saw him filling up his mouth with the contents, unaware of everything. The girl then looked over to Kurapika to see him stare at her curiously as she mouthed out 'It's a trap' to the boy, earning a hard look.

"Tonpa-san, I think the juice must've expired…. It tastes funky," the boy said, raising up his brows.

Leorio shot out all the liquid he took into his mouth after he heard the boy's statements, Kurapika looking over at the man.

"Seriously? That was close!" Leorio exclaimed, wiping his mouth with his sleeve.

"H-huh, that's strange…! Hahaha…" Tonpa exclaimed, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

Kiyoko looked at Leorio with disgust on her face and turned away.

'Impossible! It shouldn't have a scent or any other taste!' the man thought, looking at the group.

Gon pulled the can up to his eye to examine the juice, Kiyoko keeping watch just in case he injured himself while doing so, as Kurapika poured out the contents like nothing.

"I'M VERY SORRY!" Tonpa exclaimed, slapping his hands together and bowing down. "I DIDN'T REALIZE THAT THEY'VE GONE BAD!"

"It's okay! You don't have to apologize!" Gon said. "Is your stomach feeling alright?"

'This boy…. IS SO SLOW!' Kuromi yelled.

'Well, it's… Gon..' Kiyoko said, trying and failing to think of an answer.

"Y-yes, I'm fine…" Tonpa responded.

"I've sampled all kinds of grasses and plants on the mountain, so I usually am able to taste when something's gone bad!" Gon said, smiling.

"R-really? Haha.. T-that's amazing, ahahaha…!" Tonpa stuttered, visible sweat forming on his face as he scratch his head nervously.

'Damn it, I just had to stumble across this mountain kid…' he thought.

"Again, sorry about that. Well then, I'll see you around..!" Tonpa said nervously, waving at the group and walking away.

'…. Talkative old man…' Leorio muttered.

Kiyoko looked at the floor to see the cans lying there and ignored the mess they made.

'You got that right..' she murmured back.

'Hey, Tonpa-san! Could I have some more of that juice?' a young boy's voice rang.

Kiyoko curiously looked over to where the voice came from as the boys began to talk to each other. A silver messy haired boy was seen with a yellow and red skateboard in his arm as he waved at the man and approached him.

'It must be my nerves, but I'm really thirsty!' he explained.

'EH? OH, SURE..!' Tonpa said neurotically.

'Strange kid…' Kiyoko mumbled.

"Hm? What was that?" Leorio asked.

"Oh! Nothing. Just thinking to myself," the girl replied.

An alarm clock was heard ringing violently behind the crowd in the room, everyone turning to look at what it was.

"Oh?"

The man with the alarm pulled its tongue to stop the noise from coming out as the wall began to lift up. From behind the lifting wall revealed a tall man with lavender hair in a dark purple suit, white dress shirt, and a very short red tie; the alarm being held by the chain in his right hand.

"The call for hunter applicants is now closed. I apologize for the wait. The hunter exam will now commence!" he announced proudly.

The applicants began to get worked up and felt an exciting feeling flow around their bodies, smiling confidently.

"Finally, the hunter exam starts!" Gon exclaimed.

"I'm starting to get nervous…." Leorio said, tugging at his tie.

'Well, I've been nervous…' Kiyoko thought.

"One last warning…. The hunter exam is extremely difficult and dangerous. If you are short on luck or ability, you could very well wind up gravely injured or even dead. Those who accept those risks please follow me," the man said, turning around and walking away in a strange way. "Those who are afraid of losing their life, please exit by the elevator behind you."

The crowd began to follow the man without any hesitation in their movement, multiple footsteps being produced. The man looked behind him to see all the participants walking right behind him, an intense aura lingering around the participants.

"Very well.. All 404 applicants will participate in Phase One," the man announced.

Gon, Kiyoko, Leorio, and Kurapika walked in the middle of the crowd looking straight ahead of them.

"Of course… No one turned around and left, I shouldn't be too surprised," Leorio said, looking around the area.

Gon glanced over at the man next to him, still having a serious look on his face.

'I was hoping for a few attendees to turn tail and hide…' he muttered.

The group took notice of the change in speed, walking faster to catch up with the man in front. Everyone in the tunnel began to jog lightly, aware that the strange man was walking faster without the need to run.

"W-what…?" Leorio asked.

"Are we….? The people in the front are starting to run," Gon said.

"He's picked up the pace," Kurapika pointed out.

"He's not even running or breaking a sweat…." Kiyoko said, catching a small glimpse of the man ahead.

"I forgot to introduce myself… I am Satotz, the examiner of Phase One. I am to lead you to the exam's second phase's testing site," Satotz introduced.

"Second phase? What about the first?" someone ahead exclaimed.

"It has already started."

'What? It's already begun? This is part of the test?' people muttered.

"You must follow me to the end of Phase One to participate in Phase Two. This IS the task of the first phase," the man explained, looking behind him.

"Follow you? Is that it?" Hanzo asked.

"Yes. I may not tell you where or when you must arrive. You must follow me to the very end."

"I see how it is…." Kurapika said.

"This test is weird," Gon stated.

"Nope, it's quite an ideal test to try on one," Kurapika answered.

"I expect that this is an endurance test… Fine by me. I'll be right behind you!" Leorio exclaimed.

"Many people are going to drop out in this test. By the looks of this tunnel, it'll take more than an hour to leave this place since it looks endless… Maybe three if possible.." Kiyoko said, looking around.

'That's true.. There is also the mental stress of not knowing how far and how long we'll run.. He's also testing our mental endurance, not just physical endurance alone..' Kurapika thought.

* * *

_**30 minutes later...**_

"How long have we been running?" Gon asked all of a sudden.

"Mmmm…. About 30 minutes?" Kiyoko replied.

'Ughhh…. Ha.. ha….. I underestimated the Hunter Exam…' Leorio thought, sweating like a dog. 'Every person here is a monster! It's a gathering of monsters….!'

The same silver haired boy passed by Leorio without a sweat broken out, riding on his skateboard casually.

"H-HEY! WAIT UP, BRAT!" Leorio exclaimed, gaining the boy's attention.

"Hmm?" he hummed.

Kiyoko looked over to the left in front of her to see what was going on, seeing that same boy from earlier.

"You should show some respect to this exam!" Leorio exclaimed angrily.

"What do you mean?" the boy asked blankly.

"Why are you using a skateboard?! That's cheating!" the man shouted angrily, pointing at the board the boy was riding on.

"Why? How is this cheating?" the boy replied.

"Why..? THIS IS AN ENDURANCE TEST!" Leorio reasoned.

"No, it's not," Gon said.

"Huh?! Gon, what are you saying?!" the man asked.

"The proctor only said to follow and nothing else," the boy replied.

"WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON, EH?! WHICH ONE IS YOUR FRIEND, ME OR HIM?!" Leorio asked, fuming at the child.

'Friend?' the boy muttered.

"Quit yelling you're wasting you stamina! Besides, IT'S ANNOYING!" Kurapika shouted. "We can pretty much bring anything to the exam, no certain rules about that."

Leorio frowned at the boy.

'He's really obnoxious too!' he thought angrily.

The boy suddenly slowed down the board he was on and rode next to Gon.

"What is it?" Gon asked with a smile on his face.

"Hey, how old are you?" he asks curiously.

".. I'm twelve," Gon said confusedly.

'Hmmmm… Twelve.. We're the same age..' the boy thought.

"Hm?" Gon hummed, directing a clueless smiling at the boy.

"Guess I'll run as well then," the boy said, kicking his board up in the air and catching it.

"WOWW! THAT WAS COOL!" Gon exclaimed, running to the right side of the boy.

"Are you not going to use it anymore?"

The boy stared at Gon for a bit and then looked ahead.

"Ehh.."

Gon stared at the boy and then shrugged off the response he earned.

"I'm Gon! What's your name?"

"Killua," the silver haired boy said, glancing at Gon.

'Damn itttt…..! Making a fool out of me….!' Leorio growled.

* * *

_**4 hours later...**_

'It's been around four hours ever since we began the exam… We must've traveled at least sixty kilometers by now. Just how much farther do we need to go?' Kurapika thought.

"Are you feeling alright?" Kurapika asked Kiyoko, slowing down a little.

"Y-yes.. I'm fine.. J-just not use to… running so much… at an adjusted… speed limit," Kiyoko said, panting a little.

"Besides, Kuro isn't doing anything, I'll switch with her sooner or later.." Kiyoko said.

"Kuro? You mean Kuromi?" the boy questioned, earning a nod from the girl.

"Idiot! I rather carry you then have you switch with her. Didn't you say it affects you even if it was a quick switch?"

Kiyoko had an apologetic face expression on and looked away quickly.

"Y-yes.. But I'll be fine, really.. I've switched with her once throughout this phase already," Kiyoko answered quietly.

The boy groaned and grabbed the girl's arm.

"No more switching until it's really needed! And I mean REALLY. Tell me when you're tired and I'll just bring you with me!" Kurapika said bluntly.

The girl's face had a little tint of pink on her face after hearing the boy's statement.

'Or you could just let me drop dead here, I guess…" she said a little quieter.

"Not at all. You've made it quiet far already."

'Who is he to tell us what to do?! HMPH! TELL CAT FACE THAT!' Kuromi grunted.

'Ah….. Kuromi just said that you shouldn't be ordering us around….' Kiyoko muttered awkwardly.

"Right…. But for starters… How old are you…?" the Kurta asked curiously.

"…. I'm sixteen.." Kiyoko answered, looking at her feet.

"Looks like I'll need to look out for you as well as Gon. I'm seventeen."

Kuromi growled and grabbed at her hair furiously.

'JUST AN AGE OLDER! DON'T GET TOO COCKY, KID!'

'Kuro…. An age older still means respect…' Kiyoko sighed.

'Leorio!' Gon exclaimed from a distance, causing the two to stop and looked back.

Leorio was panting heavily and sweating a bunch, kneeling on the ground exhausted.

"… Hm, I think he's fine. Let's go," Kurapika said, running off ahead.

"A-ah, right.." Kiyoko answered, following him.

"…. Screw that…!" Leorio suddenly said, dashing off right after.

"I'M GOING TO BECOME A HUNTER! DAMN IT ALLLLLL!" he yelled, breezing passed the two young testers.

Gon smiled and flung his fishing line over at the left back briefcase to retrieve it for the man, Killua having a surprised expression on his face.

"Oh…! COOL!" the boy suddenly exclaimed, grinning a wide grin.

"You should let me try that later!" Killua said as they both ran off.

"IF you let me try to use your skateboard, okay?" Gon responded.

"Say, I've been wondering…" Kurapika said.

"How are you able to tell when someone is lying or not? It's always been so… accurate.. Also how are you able to turn into that… Lynith I believe you said?"

The questions caught the girl off guard and made her trip over her own feet, the boy immediately catching her.

"T-thanks…. Uh, about that.. I can tell by the way a person talks. You've never told a lie about anything yet and I know this because the tone in your voice, it never shakes or falters. Tonpa on the other hand… When he offered the drinks to us and said 'indicate our companionship' and 'best of luck,' I took the time to allow his words to sink in. I heard nothing good about his voice, the tone was just dark and disgusting.. Maybe even dreadful.. He didn't even bother hiding it when he smirked at us, filled with holes I'll say. Everything else before he said that was true, besides when he offered to answer our questions, I wasn't paying attention to the little stuff, so I didn't catch it immediately," Kiyoko answered.

"That's kind of like me being able to tell stuff with my eyes.." Kurapika said thoughtfully.

"Now about the… 'other stuff..' I was born with it. I don't like mentioning it because people look at me differently once they find out. My brother always had to look out for me until he couldn't anymore," Kiyoko said.

"Anymore?"

"Uryuu-nii passed away. The abuse got out of hand when he did and that was how my split personality formed."

"... I'm sorry to hear that.." Kurapika said.

"It's alright, just as long you have the same outlook of me. My mother had the same ability and it was passed down to me. Only a few people have this ability, so I always think negatively about it like it's a curse. Usually gets passed down from one generation to the other, I guess, and my family seems to be one of the chosen few. If I were to have more than one child later in life, the ability would be passed down to one of them. It's not always the first baby to get the ability because my brother didn't get it and I ended up getting it. When the ability is passed down to the offspring the parent loses the ability to change into one. If I am to die now, the entire chain of the beast will be broken since I'm the one holding onto the Lynith's soul. It'll mend back together within years because those without the ability still have a bit of the beast's power in them. It doesn't affect my body at all which is lucky because if Kuromi decides to turn into it, I won't be able to take the damage they both inflict on me," Kiyoko explained.

"That's good. But when you turn back to normal, why do you still have your long white ears and that deadly looking tail of yours?" the Kurta asked, taking in all the information.

'Questions, QUESTIONS, QUESTIONS!' Kuromi yelled. 'HE BETTER STAY AWAY FROM ME WHEN I'M PRESENT!'

"It's a side effect. It doesn't hurt me, but it tends to scare people off or get them turned against me…." the girl explained.

* * *

'We've reached the eighty-kilometer mark. Now it's time to pick up the pace a little,' Satotz thought as he began to prance up the stairs without effort.

"Gon, want to race to see who'll finish first?" Killua asked the boy.

"Sure! Loser has to buy dinner!" Gon said.

"Okay then, you're on!" Killua accepted.

"Ready…. Set.. GO!" the both of them yelled, sprinting ahead.

In the meantime, Leorio took off his tops and tied them around his waist, his tie flying loosely against his neck as he caught up to Kurapika and Kiyoko.

"Leorio, are you okay?" Kurapika asked.

Kiyoko's eyes widened and turned her head away immediately.

'Put on a shirt or something….!' she squeaked embarrassedly.

'THAT GUY GOTS SOME NERVE!' Kuromi yelled.

"SURE! JUST LOOK AT ME!" Leorio exclaimed.

"I DON'T THINK ANYONE WANTS TO LOOK AT YOU RIGHT NOW….!" Kiyoko stated bluntly, closing her eyes.

"WELL THEN! I realized that I was able to keep running if I didn't worry about how retarded I look! AUGHHHH!" the man yelled, running even faster.

Kurapika smiled at his answer and watched him run up the stairs quicker.

'I should probably follow his example..' the boy thought, taking off his talbard and stuffing it into his bag.

The boy grabbed Kiyoko's arm and picked up the pace to catch up with Leorio.

"U-UWAH!"

"Leorio! I have a question!" Kurapika began.

"What?" the man panted. "Is this too easy for you, Kurapika? Talking just wastes your energy!"

'Says the one who's been yelling and talking all this time,' Kuromi said boringly and in a mocked tone. 'Baaaaaka.'

"Are you really trying to become a hunter for money?" Kurapika asked, striking a switch in Leorio.

The man grunted and halted his smile, looking away from the two.

"You aren't, huh? We've only spent time together for a couple of days, but I seem to know you better than that."

Leorio groaned and glared at the floor next to him.

"Sure you have a disgusting attitude and you aren't too bright…." Kurapika said, ignoring the man's reactions.

Leorio glowered at the sight before him and screamed between clench teeth.

'Kurapika-kun… That might be going a little too far….?' Kiyoko whispered.

"But you're not a shallow person," Kurapika said, Leorio's face changing again. "I've seen many people who desired to live for money. You're nothing like them."

"Kheh! You and your logic, Doll Face!" the man said, not bothering to look back.

'He must've struck a nerve..' Kuromi said.

'Kuro, just listen..' Kiyoko sighed.

Kurapika looked at the floor a bit to think and back up to the man with a serious face.

"Scarlet eyes. That's why we Kurta people were targeted… The Kurta are known for our unique scarlet eyes. When we become excited, angry, our eyes will turn scarlet as if they were fire," the boy explained, causing both Leorio and Kiyoko to look at him shocked.

"The eyes in that scarlet state are appraised as one of the seven most magnificent hues in the world. They bid high prices in black markets.." Kurapika finished.

"That's why the Phantom Troupe attacked you?" Leorio asked.

"They gorged out and stole every single eye from my brethrens, my family's corpses," the boy replied, closing his eyes. "I can still hear their clouded eyes call out for me in desolation…"

Kiyoko had a sick look on her face and covered up her mouth trying hard not to imagine the scene as Leorio listened to the boy intently.

"I swear, I'll capture the damn troupe and reclaim the scarlet eyes of my clan!"

"So that's why you want to be a hunter...?" Leorio asked.

"Yeah, if I become one and earn rich patrons, I'll be able to gain access to the market's info," the boy responded.

"But then you'll have to swallow your pride and become one you despise most!" the man told the boy.

"The blow to my dignity is nothing compared to the suffering everyone in the Kurta clan sustained."

An awkward silence passed the three, heavy constant breathing being heard.

"Sorry, but I have no reputable cause," Leorio exclaimed.

"Huh?"

"I'm just after the money!" Leorio pointed out.

"Don't lie! Kiyoko, is he lying? He is isn't he?" Kurapika asked, looking over to see her sickened face. 'Crap, I forgot she hates violence and gore..'

"I'm not lying!" Leorio fought back.

"Do you actually believe that you can buy everything in the world with money?" Kurapika asked angrily.

"YOU BET! For the right offering price, you can not only for treasures, but dreams, hearts, and EVEN PEOPLE'S LIVES!" the man yelled furiously.

Kurapika took his response the wrong way and glared at him.

"TAKE THAT BACK, LEORIO! If you're insulting us Kurta again, I won't forgive you this time!"

Kiyoko finally snapped back to reality and grabbed Kurapika's hand on her arm.

"Kurapika-kun, I don't think-"

"Why…? I'm telling you the truth..! If I'd had the money that time, my FRIEND WOULDN'T HAVE DIED!" Leorio yelled, cutting of Kiyoko's sentence midway and allowing his rage out of him.

Kiyoko flinched at both of their stories and reasons and thought about her actual reason for this exam.

'That's kind of like me… Uryuu-nii passed away because of an accident and I'm here just to relieve Kuromi's bloodlust..'

Kurapika was taken aback as Leorio stuck out his lower lip angrily and looked away.

"An illness..?" the boy asked.

"….. It was a curable disease… The problem that stopped me from saving him was that the operation costs a fortune.. I WAS NAÏVE! I thought I had the ability to become a doctor…! I wanted to be able to cure kids with the same problems he had and say that it was free of charge!" the man continued to let out, Kurapika closing his eyes and frowning guiltily while Kiyoko looked at the two with concern.

"I could've told his parents that as well! That was my dream…! What a joke… Turns out that to become a doctor, you'd need EVEN MORE MONEY THAN THE OPERATION!" Leorio explained angrily, tears forming at the corner of his eyes as he retold the story and his mistake. "Got it now? This world runs on money! SO I WANT MONEY!"

"…. Leorio-san.." Kiyoko said quietly.

Panting was heard from behind the three as Gon and Killua caught up with them without a problem.

"Ah," Kurapika said, looking next to him.

"See you at the goal, Kurapika, Kiyoko!" Gon said.

"Catch you later, old man!" Killua said, smiling at everyone.

"I'M NOT OLD!" Leorio yelled. "I'M A TEENAGER, JUST LIKE YOU GUYS! I'M NINETEEN, GOD DAMN IT!"

The sudden outburst scarred the group members as they stared at the teen with shock and disbelief.

"HUH?"

"NO WAY!"

"SERIOUSLY?!"

"YOU'RE KIDDING!"

* * *

**Haaa… Leorio's story is pretty sad, I mean Kurapika's is pretty depressing already, but Leorio's may have surpassed his. KURAPIKA SHOW MORE EMOTION NEXT TIME! Just kidding, hehe. I didn't indicate who was saying what at the end, but I'm sure you know which character is saying the which of the four dialogs in order at the end. XD I referred Kuromi as 'black cat' because people believe black cats are bad luck and they are also usually witchs' familiars, Kuromi being quite twisted at time and sending 'bad luck' to others on purpose.**

**Now I think about it, my friends don't know that I write/read fanfics and none of them writes any or have any interest... ;u; Awkward….. If anyone would like to talk to me about anything, I'll be glad to chat anytime. ^^" I also have a Wattpad account with the same stories of course. Check it out if you like, my user is _lilyblizz_. Hope you guys are enjoying my stories! C:**

_**~stormy003 **_


	7. Chapter 6

Dozens of people began to drop dead on the stairs, giving up on the very first phase of the exam.

"Ha… ha….. I-I can't. Take another step…" a man said dropping dead onto the floor.

The man next to him continued to walk a little further before his legs gave up on him, panting heavily.

"Th-this… it is…." he said, falling face forward.

Gon and Killua sprinted passed the fallen men, bodies still untouched by their mental fatigue.

"I'm still astonished that you're able to keep up with me, Killua said, still sounding normal from all the running they did.

"Ah. Really?" Gon asked, a wide smile appearing his on his face as he chuckled and scratched the back of his head, pleased with the compliment.

Killua looked at the boy a little irritated and looked back ahead, unamused with the entire event.

'Or maybe it's just that everyone here is too slow…' the boy muttered, disappointedly.

Killua sighed and lowered his head to the floor, his hands still in his pockets, the skateboard still firm underneath his arm.

"Man… This Hunter Exam is going to be a breeze…. That's no fun!" the boy complained.

Gon looked over to his new friend curiously, Leorio's briefcase hitting against his backpack in rhythm.

"Hey, Killua? Why do you want to become a hunter?" the boy asked.

Killua lifted his head up and looked at the boy with a blank face.

"Oh, me? I'm really not that interested in becoming one," Killua answered.

"Huh?" Gon said.

"It was said that this exam was suppose to be really hard, well that's what I heard… So I thought it'd be amusingly fun! But no, this is just disappointing," Killua explained, smiling and closing his eyes as he did so.

Gon stared at the boy with his mouth slightly opened, taking in the reason Killua gave him.

"How about you?" Killua questioned. "Why is it that you want to become a hunter?"

"Well.. My dad is a hunter and so I wanted to become one also, just like he did," Gon told the boy.

The two boys slightly moved to the right to avoid the heavily breathing body in front of them.

"Hmmm?" the boy hummed. "What kind of hunter is he?"

"I don't know," Gon answered immediately.

Killua looked at the boy with shock, ducked his head low, and looked away from Gon, letting out a quick loud laugh.

"That's sort of weird!" he said.

"Really?" Gon asked curiously, looking at Killua.

Killua looked back over to Gon and smiled brightly at him.

"You want to be just like your dad and yet, you don't know anything about him?" the boy asked, amused.

Gon faced back forward, a smile still present on his face.

"I was raised by Mito-san at her house, so I've only seen my dad in old pictures," Gon said as they passed by a tired man.

"Who's Mito-san?"

Gon quickly glanced over to Killua.

"My aunt. Aunt Mito."

Killua furrowed his brows a little, his lips twitching downwards as well.

"Oh."

"My father took the Hunter Exam when he was twelve too! He passed the exam and became a hunter. After that, he left the island," Gon explained. "His decision is fine with me though! I want to know why he chose to become a hunter over being with me!"

Killua stared at the boy blankly again, pouting a bit with little interest.

"Hm?"

The boys looked over towards the light that began to shine inside the tunnel.

"The exit!" someone exclaimed.

"Whew! I can finally get out of this crappy dark tunnel!" another person said.

"You seem happy," Killua pointed out to Gon, glancing at the boy a bit.

"What about you? Aren't you happy too?" Gon asked the boy brightly.

Killua looked away and tried to hide his smile.

"Not really…. It's just an exit. What a boring test, it's not even worthy to be called a game!" Killua said, hiding his little excitement.

The boys went quiet for a little and stared at the exit curiously, allowing a challenging smile appear on their faces, sprinting off full speed ahead.

"You know, if you pass, you're able to become a hunter!" Gon reasoned.

"Still so eager to become one like your father…." Killua sighed.

Hope began to appear on everyone's faces as they all got closer and closer to the exit of the tunnel, wanting to get out of the area.

'Now let's see how many has made it this far…' Satotz thought, stopping at the very top of the stairs.

The man slowly turned around to see Gon and Killua pass by on either sides of him at the same time.

"GOALLL!" the both exclaimed in sync, the two fist pumping the air.

"YAY! I WIN!" Gon exclaimed brightly.

"What are you talking about? I was the faster one…" Killua corected.

"I was!" Gon fought back.

"No, I was!" Killua complained.

"I was faster, so YOU have to buy dinner!" Gon whined.

"NOPE! I WAS FASTER!" Killua refused. "That means YOU buy me dinner!"

The two continued to bicker with each other as Satotz stared at the boys with a straight face and nothing more.

'These kids are amazingly tough. It seems like they'll be likely to amuse me some more throughout this exam,' the man thought.

"But I was fasterrr!" Gon continued. "Hey, mister? Who was faster?"

"I dare say that you both traverse the exit's finish line simultaneously," the man stated casually.

"… Oh.. Then I'll buy you dinner!" Gon offered with a smile.

"Huh?" Killua said.

"Then you buy me dinner!" Gon reversed again, frowning at the boy.

"I don't get it….." Killua sighed, looking confused.

"Hey, Satotz-san? Is this where the second phase of the exam will take place?" Gon asked, ignoring his friend.

"No, we still have quite a way to go," the man told the boy.

"Oh…."

The two looked out into the distance again, only see fog around them.

"Wow… It's foggy…"

* * *

A few more that still had the stamina to move finally made it out of the tunnel, feeling very tired and dizzy from running for so long. A thick fog covered the area where every participants entered one by one, only able to see the silhouettes of others Leorio finally made it outside to where every other attendees were standing feeling very off balanced, falling and making contact with the ground at the very top of the stairs, Kurapika and Kiyoko making it out right after. The man panted heavily and allowed his head to drop limp right after.

"Hey, Kurapika," Gon greeted, Killua and Gon sitting near the exit.

Kurapika gave a quick wave to the boy and studied the foggy area.

"Is this our next destination?" the boy asked curiously, looking around.

"Nope. It isn't," Gon answered brightly.

"I see…"

Kiyoko whimpered a bit in disappointment.

"Don't tell me we have to travel further…." she whimpered.

"Are you okay?" Kurapika asked the girl next to him, panting a little.

"Y-yes, I'm fine…" she replied, trying hard not to collapse.

"You.. look like you're.. going to pass out.." Kurapika pointed out, letting go of her wrist and setting his hands on his hips.

"Maybe I will…" the girl chuckled tiredly, standing back up.

"Ah, the fog is fading," Kurapika pointed out.

"Really?" Gon asked, standing up from his spot.

A wide smile spread across his face as the fog slowly disappeared, revealing a clearer view of the outside.

"The Numere Wetlands, also known as Swindlers Swamp," Satotz told everyone. "We must cross these wetlands to reach the next phase of the exam."

Birds were heard in a distance from above them, their flapping wings barely audible to them.

'I'm somehow guessing that this requires more running….' Kiyoko thought to herself.

'I feel you..' Kuromi said.

'You barely had to run!' Kiyoko said.

"This area is the home to many bizarre and unique animals, many of them being sly, ravenous creatures that fool humans and prey upon them, turning them into fodder. Be very careful," Satotz instructed. "If you let them trick you… your dead."

Everyone groaned, shaken by the explanation the man told them, and stared at the man with wide eyes. A metal door from the tunnel began to close the exit as a man appeared out of nowhere from inside the tunnel, everyone turning back to look.

"H-HEY! W-WAIT FOR ME!" the man begged, falling onto the floor and reaching out to everyone.

Everyone watched in shock as Satotz continued to explain about the land with a straight face.

"These creatures of this wetland will use every trick in their book to fool their prey," Satotz continued, gaining everyone's attention. "An ecosystem where the creatures obtain their food through lies…. Hence the name…. Swindlers Swamp. You all must follow and stay really close to me so that none of you will be deceived."

Everyone stared at the man intently, concentrating on making out of the first phase alive.

"Like I said earlier, if you get tricked, you die."

"Ha, what a joke. That's something quite funny to say," Leorio said, Kurapika looking over at the half naked man.

"How will they trick us when we're expecting it? For sure we won't fall for it if we know they're out there."

"DON'T LET HIM FOOL YOU! IT'S A LIE!" a voice boomed, catching everyone's attention.

"I just said that they can't…." Leorio said, irritated.

"D-don't fall for it…." the voice said, a beat up looking man coming out from behind the tunnel.

"HE'S LYING TO YOU!" the man exclaimed, pointing at Satotz. "HE'S AN IMPOSTER! A FRAUD!"

Kiyoko gave a small interested smile at the man, Kurapika catching a glimpse of it.

'Is she smiling at this situation?' the boy thought. 'Strange girl…..'

"He isn't the proctor… I'm the real examiner!" the injured man said, pointing at himself.

"What's going on?" Leorio exclaimed.

'Oh? I thought he said they won't be able to deceive us?' Kuromi asked, smirking at Leorio.

'Interesting… I wonder if there is anyone who can tell this is a lie..' Kiyoko said, smiling an even bigger smile.

"A fake…? What does that mean?!" people began to say.

"Then who the hell is he…?" Hanzo asked, looking over to Satotz suspiciously.

"A fraud….?!"

Everyone continued to shoot dirty looks at the unshaken man as their suspicions began to rise.

"Which one is the real proctor then?" another person asked.

'This isn't good… Everyone here is feeling unsettled…. Did all that raucous running underground make them all edgy?' Kurapika thought nervously.

"Hey, mister!" Leorio suddenly exclaimed.

Kiyoko and Kurapika looked over to the bare man once he called out to the stranger, his tie still tied loosely around his neck.

"Do you have any proof? Proof that the guy over there is a poser?"

"Take a look at this..!" the man exclaimed, dragging out a wounded monkey.

"Wh-what is that?! Is that a magical beast…?" the group began to ask.

The monkey's eyes were rolled to the back of it's head, tongue hanging out of it's mouth. The creature's face looked exactly like Satotz, tricking everyone to believe the stranger's accuse. The group gasped at the sight in front of their eyes, getting even more suspicious with Satotz's identity.

"… Hey look.. it's face..!" a burly man pointed out.

"Ah! He looks just like Satotz-san!" Gon exclaimed, Killua not taking the man's accusation.

"It's a Man-Faced Ape, one of the creatures that reside in the Numere Wetlands!" the man exclaimed.

"A Man-Faced Ape?" Leorio asked, everyone frowning at the man.

Kiyoko continued to have a smile plastered on her face, amused with everyone's reactions.

'Those idiots sure have small brains…' Kuromi said, pulling up her hair and widening up her eyes with interest.

'Kuromi, behave.. They'll know sooner or later,' Kiyoko said.

"Man-Faced Apes love the flavor of fresh human flesh. However, their limbs are quite long and thin, making them quite weak," the strange man explained, Satotz unfazed by all the statements.

Everyone began to panic and sweat at the tension being sent at them.

"That's why they impersonate themselves as human beings. They fool humans into following them to the wetlands, where they end up teaming up with the other creatures to kill and consume them…. HE TOO IS THAT CREATURE! HE INTENDS TO TRAP EVERY APPLICANTS HERE AND KILL YOU ALL TO DEVOUR!" the man exclaimed with a smirk on his face, pointing at Satotz again.

'What..? Bastard….!' Leorio muttered angrily, Kurapika glancing over at the man with little suspicion.

"Now that it's been mentioned he sure looks like it and he certainly doesn't seem human nor walk like one…." Hanzo said, smirking at the man.

'Leorio, you disappoint me…' Kiyoko sighed mentally. 'Even that ninja guy doesn't know..'

Kuromi shook her head and raised up her arms, leveled with her shoulders like a scale.

'Idiots, I tell you,' Kuromi said.

"No wonder his running ability underground wasn't normal..!" Leorio stated.

Every applicant but Kurapika, Gon, Killua, Kiyoko, and Hisoka began to mob Satotz, a murderous intent leaking out of them all.

'A mob mentality… After going through the first destitution in as a group they've all formed a pledge… If I lose myself into that band, I won't be able to make an equitable perception,' Kurapika thought, his mind beginning to scramble.

'Oh, Bookworm is starting to lose his mind! Hehehe!" Kuromi giggled.

'And then there's Gon. Let's just watch,' Kiyoko told herself.

"Is this also a part of the exam too?" Gon asked, a little clueless with the event.

"Huh?" Kurapika said, looking at the boy.

"A test?" Leorio asked, turning over to Gon.

'Good going, Gon. Your comment changed the vibe around us,' the Kurta thought, glancing at the boy.

'Can't you tell, Gon? With that wild hunch of yours…' Leorio whispered loudly at the boy, glancing at the man behind him.

"Nope! Not at all!" the boy announced proudly.

The man's face crumbled as his head and body slightly descended with disappointment.

'Not at all, eh? You..' the man muttered.

"There's not a hint of unusual smell. If he's doing an impersonation, he's doing it quite well."

'Is that so…'

"Hey, what do you think, Kiyoko?" Kurapika asked.

"Me? I've been paying attention to that man over there," the girl said, pointing at the stranger, "and he's filled with holes. However, I haven't studied Satotz-san, so I can't be too sure yet. There CAN be two liars in the world after all, wouldn't you agree?"

Leorio gave a confused stare at the girl and sighed in defeat.

"Well then, there is another way to find out," Kurapika said, walking to the middle of the group. "If he is a veritable examiner, he should own a Hunter License."

"A license?" Gon asked.

"You see, only a hunter is competent with judging the aptitude of a hunter," Kurapika explained.

"Then does it mean… he's a hunter? Wow!" the young boy exclaimed, returning his attention to Satotz.

"He stole my Hunter License!" the stranger exclaimed.

"And so, another lie has been told," Kiyoko said, smiling brightly. "I'm sure a real examiner would be able to fend off a thief."

"Hey, is this really that entertaining to you?"Leorio asked, tugging at the girl's cheek.

"A-ahh! M-mayve?" Kiyoko answered nervously, grabbing the man's arm with bother her hands.

"HEY, HEY, HEY! OLD MAN, LET GO OR I'LL MURDER YOU!" Kuromi exclaimed, Kiyoko holding back her urge to attack.

The unanticipated threat surprised everyone around her, making them jump and look over to the two confusedly.

"Now, now! No violence, please!" the girl said with exertion.

Kurapika sighed and grabbed Leorio's arm, pulling his arm away from her face. Kiyoko took full control and chuckled nervously as she rubbed her face from the tug.

'Thanks…'

"He took me by surprise and stole everything!"

Everyone turned their heads back to the real examiner, their suspicions finally spilling out of their heads.

"I see," Kurapika said.

"Then that means possessing a license won't prove a single thing?" Leorio asked.

Cards suddenly flew at the stranger, directly hitting him and stabbing him like a knife, and at the real examiner, each card being caught swiftly and cleanly.

"HA?" Leorio exclaimed in shock.

The fake examiner slowly tipped backwards, falling backwards onto his back dead, the monkey falling down with him. Everyone stared at the dead man and back at the real examiner in shock, Hisoka shuffling the remaining cards in his card quickly. The entire group turned their heads and faced Hisoka with fright, his cards continued to be shuffled.

_'Fwwwwp… Fwwwwp…'_

"I see, I see…" the magician suddenly said, raising up an ace of spades in between his fingers.

"What are you doing?!" Leorio exclaimed, frightened by the man.

"That settles it then…. You're the real one. That was a lot quicker than just sitting here and asking questions, correct?"

The participants returned their attention to Satotz with confusion, the man still holding the cards in his hands. Satotz stared at everyone with his usual straight face and tossed the cards in his hands away from him.

'WHATTTTTTTTTTTTT? HE'S THE REAL EXAMINER?!' Hanzo exclaimed mentally, his jaw dropped and face covered in sweat.

The acting monkey blinked and took a glance at the group, still acting as if it was dead.

"Huh?" it hummed.

The monkey fully woke up and looked around a little, leaping away from everyone, thinking it could get away. Hisoka took the card from his hand and threw it at the creature, killing it in an instant.

"Examiners are hunters picked by the committee to perform this duty without pay," Hisoka explained. "Any hunter, bearing the title we seek, would be able to defend themselves from a mild attack like that."

"I shall take that as a compliment," Satotz said, his eyes closed. "However, if you attack me once more, for any certain circumstances, your attack will be reckoned ad rebellion. I WILL report you for turning against an examiner and you'll immediately be relieved from this exam. Are we clear?"

Hisoka closed his eyes and smirked at the man before him.

"Sure. I got it," the man said, walking away.

"It stinks…" Killua said.

"Huh?" Gon said.

"A hunter would never be deceived by the likes of a Man-Faced Ape," Kurapika said. "I found out he was an impostor when he said his license was stolen… Just like what Kiyoko said."

Kiyoko gave s mall shrug to the group that eyed her curiously and looked around to see other's reactions.

"Natural for me to know. Don't mind me," the girl chuckled.

"Still, that man over there, Hisoka, even attacked the examiner…"

"How long are you going to stare at that thing..?" Killua asked.

Gon didn't catch the question and muttered a 'yeah..'

"No need to feel bad about it. Hazardous entrapments like this are an ordinary part of life for them," Satotz reassured everyone. "Survival of the fittest is the rule of this marsh."

Vultures began to land on the dead man behind everyone and pecked at his flesh, eating it deliberately.

'Oh.. I think I'll be sick..' Kiyoko whimpered, her body slowly shrinking as she covered of her mouth and her face looking sick.

Kurapika took notice and pulled the girl behind him, covering up the sight as Leorio softly pat her back.

"It's alright, Kiyoko. Don't pay any attention to it," the man said.

Everyone continued to watch in horror as the creatures ate the freshly killed man.

'Nature sure can be an abominable thing to watch…..' Leorio mumbled disgustedly.

"So he was also a Man-Faced Ape.." Kurapika said.

"He strived to confuse the applicants, to lure some of you away," Satotz told everyone, walking off to the front of everyone.

"We can't lower our guard down," Killua said.

"Yeah," Gon said again.

"You will be meeting with such treachery on a regular basis," Satotz said, stopping in his track. "I believe that a large number of you were tricked into having doubts with my identity?"

Leorio and Hanzo laughed at themselves nervously and rubbed the back of their heads awkwardly.

'I totally didn't noticed,' the two men thought.

"Do you understand? If you lose sight of me in the fog of Numere Wetlands, you will fail and never reach the exam's second phase. Do keep that in mind," Satotz told everyone. "Then let's be on our way. Please, follow me."

Everyone began to run after the abnormally fast man, following him through the wetlands desperately.

* * *

The fog began to grow a little more visible than earlier as they all progress through the area tiredly.

"Tch. Here we go with another marathon.." Leorio complained.

"We're also running through the marsh this time. Running on wet grass and swamp mud requires a lot more energy than running on dry ground," Kurapika said.

Squishing noises from underneath the group's feet could be heard loud and clear every time their feet landed with their weight, mud being flung around them as they lifted up their feet and made contact with the ground once again.

"Kurapika-kun…. May I switch with Kuromi?" Kiyoko asked, aware of her own stamina.

"You may certainly not!" the boy replied sharply, tugging the girl forward and picking her up.

"You're just going to waste your energy this way!" Kiyoko exclaimed, quickly wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Okay, question time. Would you want to pass this phase while inflicting damages to your body and mind?" Kurapika asked, sounding a little harsh, but keeping calm.

".. No…?" Kiyoko whimpered, feeling a little threatened.

"Would you like to keep your promise and take on this test with Gon until the very end?"

"… Yes…"

"Would you want to fail this test even if you are exerting all your energy and effort on the very first phase just by switching back and forth with yourself?"

"… Do you have to ask me all this?" Kiyoko asked nervously.

"Answer my question, Kiyoko," the boy said.

"No. No I don't…"

"Alright, then allow us to be of assistance," Kurapika concluded.

"Kurapika, you were sounding a bit to harsh on her," Leorio pointed out, lowering his eye lids at the boy.

"I don't know how I can help you, but I'll deal with your injuries and health," Leorio told the girl, giving her a bright smile and a thumbs up.

Kiyoko smiled back and nodded.

'THAT JERKKKKK! WHY CAN'T I BE IN CONTROL? IT'S ONLY A SWIFT CHANGE. NO DAMAGE WILL BE INFLICTED AFTER THE SWITCH!' Kuromi screamed. 'QUICK, JUST SWITCH WITH ME!'

Kiyoko gave a mental chuckle and buried her face into the crook of Kurapika's neck.

'I'm afraid not. He's going to give me another lecture or something..' Kiyoko told Kuromi.

"Hm? Did I say or do something wrong?" Kurapika asked, earning Leorio's attention.

"Seriously...?" the man asked, earning a glare from Kurapika.

'No. It's nothing. You've done nothing wrong,' the girl muttered awkwardly, the man next to them stifling a laugh out of nowhere.

"Pay attention now! Be sure to stay close behind me!" Satotz instructed the group after a few minutes later.

'It's getting foggy again,' Killua told Gon from a distance.

"The fog is growing thicker… " Kurapika said.

"Kurapika-kun, you can let me down now," Kiyoko told the boy.

"Well, how are you going to do that? We're running for god's sake," Leorio told the girl.

Kiyoko took out her staff and extended it to it's fullest, seeing a silhouette of a rock.

"Loosen your grip on me, really quick," she instructed.

Kurapika hesitantly loosened his grip on the girl, being careful not to drop her.

"Eh? What are you planning to do?" Leorio asked, looking over at Kurapika and earning a shrug.

"This."

Kiyoko suddenly stuck out her staff and made contact with the base of the rock ahead of them, lifting herself up quickly before Kurapika got caught up in it.

"AH! CAREFUL!" Leorio said, speeding up to reach the girl.

'Seriously...! I can't read this girl's thoughts… One moment she's scared, the next she's smiling with enthusiasm and interest, and the next she's reckless! And then there's her counterpart, Kuromi… At least, Kiyoko isn't violent and rarely shows her reckless side…' Kurapika thought, slightly bothered by it.

The girl landed safely onto the ground and slipped, Leorio pulling her up before she fell.

"Carefullll! You don't want to get hurt now!" the man said, knocking the girl's head lightly.

"Sorry, sorry!"

Leorio slowed down his pace to match Kurapika's again and began exchanging sentences with each other.

'This girl is weird...' Leorio muttered.

'Really? I find her quite interesting though,' Kurapika whispered back, smiling a little.

'Whaaa? Really? How?' Leorio exclaimed quietly.

'Her split personality and ability to change to a beast. Her ability to seek truths and lies in a person's voice. The way she acts and covers up her actual personality,' Kurapika listed.

'Actual personality?' the man questioned.

'She's not the only one hiding something important...'

Kiyoko looked behind her to see the two smile and wave at her nervously.

'Strange, guys..' Kuromi muttered. 'It's a miracle that you lasted this long with them.'

'How about you?' Kiyoko muttered.

Kuromi clicked her tongue and ignored the question, going quiet right after.

'Uryuu-nii... Am I.. making the right decision?' Kiyoko thought worriedly. 'The decision to take this test and become a hunter? The decision to trust the boys I just met? The decision to let them to know more about me? And the decision to... dream..?'

* * *

**Yerp. R&amp;R? Thanks for reading and for the favorites and follows! LOTSA LURVVVV, hahaha! Just kidding, just kidding, I'll be serious. Love all my supporters and readers!**

_**~stormy003**_


	8. Chapter 7

'Gon.'

"Huh?"

'Let's... I think we should move up closer to the front...' Killua whispered.

"Yeah, we wouldn't want to lose sight of the examiner. It'd be bad if we lost sight of Satotz-san," Gon replied carelessly.

'That's none of my concern. I'm more disturbed by our surroundings and the people around us. We should gain some distance and get as far away from Hisoka as possible,' Killua said in the exact same tone as before.

"Wait, what?" the clueless boy said, looking over at Killua.

'Staying near him is too dangerous. He's looking for preys, having an urge to kill. He's going to take advantage of this heavy fog to murder a few participants."

The young boys continued to run at their pace as silence slowly caught up to them both.

"It looks like you want to ask me 'How do you know all that?' huh?" Killua asked casually. "It's that smell. I can smell it in the air."

"The smell?" Gon repeated.

'Yeah...' the sharp boy answered lowly.

"Hmmmm... I don't think he smells.." Gon said, looking over his shoulder.

"I DIDN'T MEAN HE REEKS, I MEANT SOMETHING ELSE!" Killua exclaimed. "He and I, we're both alike."

"But it sure doesn't look like it..." the boy trailed off.

"Well, that's only because I've been disguising myself all this time along with that monkey. I am perfectly hidden from everyone. You'll find out about me eventually." Killua replied.

"Ehh? KURAPIKA! LEORIO! KIYOKO! KILLUA SAID THAT WE ALL SHOULD ADVANCE TO THE FRONT!" Gon exclaimed, looking behind him.

Killua confused expression changed into a frown, the corner of his mouth slightly twitching with disbelief.

'Oi.. Can't you feel the tension rising around us...?' The boy asked.

"MORON! I WOULD'VE GONE TO THE FRONT A LONG TIME AGO IF I HAD A CHANCE TO!" Leorio answered back.

"EHHHHH? BUT YOU HAVE TO MOVE TO THE FRONT SOMEHOW!"

Kiyoko shook her head and smiled at the commotion.

"WELL, I CAN'T! I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH STRENGTH!" Leorio reasoned.

'This guy.. No sense of suspense at all...'Killua muttered.

"Don't worry about us!" Kurapika responded.

"WHAT?" Gon questioned.

"We'll meet up with you both as soon as possible!" Kiyoko said, tucking her staff into her ribbon around her waist.

"Ehhhhh? Why do you sound closer to us than Kurapika and Leorio?"

"Let's go, Gon," Killua said, running ahead.

"Ah! W-wait for me!" the boy exclaimed, running after Killua.

Kiyoko chuckled and slowly isolated herself from the group near her, cautious with the dangerous tension engulfing her.

' Switch yet...?' Kuromi asked wearily.

'Patience, Kuro... The time will come,' Kiyoko said, earning a groan from herself. 'The fog has gotten too thick.. I've lost sight of the other two boys behind me...'

Kuromi groaned and stretched out her arms as if they were wings.

'You better be careful and stay on your feet. Bookworm and Four-Eyes aren't here to help you this time. Switch places with me when you want,' Kuromi told her positive self.

'Right... I''ll do just that...' Kiyoko thought.

Several screaming attendees could be heard in a distance as the girl continued to run cautiously.

'W-what's going on I wonder...?'

Footsteps were heard a few feet away from her passing by as quickly as possible. The girl looked around herself and sighed, still not able to see a single person in sight.

'Kiyo, stop! STOPPPPPP!'

The girl stopped and turned around to look out in front of her to see faint silhouettes running towards a few bright red looking strawberries and green balls of light.

"Has help come to get us? We're saved aren't we?" a man exclaimed, picking up his pace along with the others.

Their bodies suddenly dropped dead to the ground as their heads detached themselves cleanly.

'E-eh?' Kiyoko thought.

Kuromi's eyes widened with interest as she watched each participant slowly disappear, blush beginning to tint her cheeks.

'Interesting, interesting!' the negative girl exclaimed, leaning forward. 'Kiyoko, let's get a closer look!'

Kiyoko cringed at the sight and Kuromi's request, shaking head quickly.

'First, you stop me and then you tell me to get a closer look... Do you want us to get killed?' Kiyoko said, walking forward as slowly and cautiously as possible.

Several more participants caught up to the girl, passing by her quickly and suddenly disappeared ahead.

'Help has arrived!' another group exclaimed from behind.

'HEY, WAIT!' Kurapika exclaimed from afar.

"Is that Kiyoko?" Leorio asked as they got closer to the girl.

Kiyoko flinch when she heard her name and looked back to see the two older boys, stopping in her track.

"Kiyoko! Quick, get back!" Kurapika ordered.

A giant brown and tan tortoise with a crimson red and dark pink shell appeared from the fog and caught hold of the man next to the girl once she jumped away.

"W-what the...?!"

"AHH! H-HELP!" the captive exclaimed.

"Are you okay?" Leorio asked, holding the girl on either side of her shoulders.

"I'm fine.." Kiyoko answered, looking at the two boys with wide eyes.

The girl looked behind her to see the Noggin' Luggin' Tortoise bite down on the capture man, Leorio forcing her into his body immediately to cover her line of sight.

'T-that looks painful... and scary... Painfully scary...' the girl whispered into the man's bare body.

"Don't look, Kiyoko, you'll get scarred with that fragile mind of yours..." Leorio said, stroking her hair to calm her shaking body.

'Ew, ew, ew, DISGUSTING PEREVERT! LET GO!' Kuromi exclaimed. 'AT LEAST PUT ON A SHIRT FIRST!'

The girl continued to curl up her fingers on both her hands as she heard the man behind scream in pain and agony. Leorio hugged her tighter to cover up the clear screams she's been hearing, Kurapika looking at the two with unease. The other surviving participants began to yell and scatter, some getting caught by numbers of tortoises in the process.

"This looks bad..." Kurapika said, watching the men run.

The tortoises began to surround the three after ridding everyone else near them, circling them slowly and halting into a stop.

"I guess everyone at the rear have became separated from those in the front," the Kurta said calmly, backing up into Leorio and vice versa.

"How can you say that like it's none of our damn business?!" Leorio exclaimed, loosening his grip around Kiyoko.

More screaming and now explosions were heard around the area, trembling the earth a little.

'Dear Lord...' Kurapika mutter with surprise.

'This disturbs me greatly...' Kiyoko mumbles covering up her face with her hands.

One of the carnivorous creature suddenly lurched forward at the small group, Kurapika pulling Kiyoko away and Leorio diving to the side.

The tortoise went after Leorio after it's first attack, opening it's mouth wide to catch him. The man immediately grabbed a sharp thick stake and swung it in front of him before he got engulfed by the animal.

"LEORIO(-SAN)!" the two younger teens exclaimed.

Kuromi cracked a wide twisted grin as she twirled a lock of her lavender-red hair around an index finger.

'How entertaining! Let's see how he tends to evade it, successful or not," Kuromi giggled.

'How does this intrigue you so much?!' Kiyoko thought in horror still in Kurapika's grasp.

'How does this not intrigue you at all?' Kuromi countered.

The tortoise tried breaking the jagged stake into bits, but failed to do so and swung it's head around violently. Leorio began to lose his grip on the piece of wood and struggled to stay put.

"Stay here," Kurapika told the girl, leaping up into the air with force and creating a visible ripple of wind around him.

The boy pulled out his weapon from behind his back and held it up above him as he gradually fell and land on the tortoise's head, stabbing it's eye.

'Now that's brutal...' Kiyoko muttered, covering up her eyes and peaking through her fingers.

'Pshh, you have a weak stomach..' Kuromi said.

The tortoise roared in pain and released the stake in it's mouth as it swung it's head backwards. The man and the piece of wood flew out of it's mouth as Leorio landed on his butt in the grass, face twisted up in pain.

'Ouch...'

Kurapika landed back onto the ground with ease a few feet away from the man, unharmed.

"Leorio, here's an opportunity! Let's go, Kiyoko!" the boy said, running off.

Kiyoko nodded and ran off after the boy.

"Right..." Leorio said, standing up and following the two.

"We've fully lost sight of the front runners and examiner," Kurapika said, tucking his weapons back behind him.

"Which way should we go then?" Leorio asked.

Everyone went quiet and looked over to the youngest member of the newly formed group.

"W-what? Don't look at me! I'll probably get us all killed!" Kiyoko exclaimed, shying away from the boys.

"Aww, come on! Left or right? If you pick, I'll give you a hug!" Leorio bribed, blushing and grinning like a monkey.

"She won't want that from you," Kurapika stated bluntly, keeping a straight face.

The man growled a little and shot daggers at the boy.

"Besides, you're half naked. That'll make everything even creepier."

Kiyoko gave a nervous chuckle as they continued to bicker with each other childishly. Slowing down her movements into a halt, the girl began to study the environment, listening to the faint noises from nearby where the covered figures stood beside the group.

'Is that... HISOKA?!' Leorio whispered loudly.

'I HEARD HISOKA. WHAT?' Kuromi exclaimed, raising up her awareness.

Leorio and Kurapika saw the negativity leaking out of the girl's body and thought for a bit.

'Oh yeah, there's the other one too,' the two thought.

Everyone watched the mysterious man kill a mob surrounding him with a single card, Kurapika covering up Kiyoko's eyes. Hisoka looked over at the three and smirked, bloodlust written in his eyes.

"Oh? Look who we have here.. Would you like to join the game as well? Examination starts now. I'm the examiner and you're the attendees," the man said.

Hisoka's words and creepy sounding voice sent cold shivers down Kiyoko's spine. The man suddenly threw cards at the three, Kiyoko and Kurapika pulling out their weapons to deflect them. Leorio dodged the cards, but was hit by one in the shoulder.

"A-AHH! OWWW!" the man exclaimed.

The three teens were now separated from each other after the attack, standing in a defensive stance to react any moment.

"Hmmm, who should I examine first...?"

Hisoka, without warning, threw a card at Kiyoko's direction who just stood at her place.

"KIYOKO!" Kurapika exclaimed.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!" Leorio yelled.

The card flew passed her face, a few centimeters away from grazing her skin.

"Oh? And you didn't bother to dodge that?" Hisoka asked in an amused tone.

"I didn't need to. I knew it wasn't going to hit me," the girl replied, her body relaxed.

'And you call me crazy...' Kuromi muttered.

'Oh hush.'

The man gave a wider smirk, creeping out the girl more than ever.

'Whoa, dude go away,' Kuromi said, putting her arms up protectively.

The man threw another card at the girl, this time aiming straight at her body. The girl took action and deflected the card with her staff and dropped her arm back down.

'Hmm, very good.. Very good...' the man muttered.

'Hmm, scary.. very scary..' Kuromi mocked.

'Guys, we need to split up. We can't fight this psychopath..' Kurapika whispered. 'On my cue, we make a run for it.'

'But-' Leorio started, cutting himself off.

Hisoka slowly walk forward and held up a card in his hand, ready to throw it.

"NOW!" Kurapika exclaimed, everyone splitting up in different directions.

"Oh? Good choice... I'll stay here and wait for 10 seconds for your efforts. Until the time is up, I wonder who I should hunt down first.. Miss Dolly? Muscle Man? Or Feminine Cat Boy?" Hisoka named off.

Kiyoko stood at a distance and hid behind several plants and shrubs, panting hard to catch her breath.

'Geez, he's really scary...' Kiyoko muttered, sliding onto the floor.

'Be on your guard, Kiyo,' Kuromi said.

'Yeah, I got it, Kuro,' the girl answered back, cautiously looking behind her.

'HAAAAA!' Leorio hollered in a distance.

"Is he nuts?!" Kiyoko exclaimed, standing up and squinting to get a better look.

'It's like he wants to die!' Kuromi added.

"I'm going back. Kuromi, back me up," Kiyoko said, running back the way she came.

'YOU'RE GOING TO KILL YOURSELF! I'M, WELL, WE'RE TOO YOUNG TO DIE!'

"Not if you're here and he's in need of help anyways!"

Reaching to the open field once again Kiyoko saw Gon with his fishing rod out in front of him, Leorio laying aside in pain.

"A fishing rod..? Interesting weapon choice, little boy..." Hisoka said, making Gon tremble beneath his gaze. "Allow me to have a closer look?"

Leorio suddenly stood up and staggered a bit, walking towards the two.

"Your opponent is me..."

The man was now charging towards the magician with a stick in his hand.

"Now get awa-"

His sentence was cut short when his face made contact with Hisoka's fist, knocking him out in an instant.

"LEORIO!" Gon exclaimed, his face now in a frown.

The boy swung his fishing rod at Hisoka several times, missing him every single shot. Gon looked around cautiously, gripping his fishing rod tightly.

"Have you came to rescue your friend?"

Gon turned around to see Hisoka resting his head on his hand casually behind him, swinging his rod once again and leaping away. Hisoka appeared directly behind him again, scaring him to death.

"Such a good boy..."

Gon leaped away again and swung his fishing line repetitively, Hisoko dodging it effortlessly. The man suddenly disappeared when Gon attempted another indirect hit, appearing behind him and choking him.

"Gon!" Kiyoko exclaimed in horror.

"Hmmm? Have you came to help your friends?" Hisoka asked.

The angered girl immediately ran up to the man and swung her leg at him with force for a hard kick. Hisoka turned around and earned a powerful kick in the face, still unfazed by the impact.

'W-what?!' the girl thought.

'If he was like those guys at Whale Island, he would have let go of Gon and flew a good few feet away...' Kuromi said in shock.

The man grabbed the girl's leg with his free hand after the impact and dragged her closer to him, studying both her and Gon's faces.

"Ahh! That expression you are making.. beautiful!" he suddenly exclaimed.

Kiyoko struggled to pull her leg back away from his deadly grip as Gon tried to pry off his hand around his neck.

'Kiyo!'

"It's nice to have friends, isn't it..?" he suddenly asked.

The man suddenly loosened his deadly grip and brush his thumbs against their skin, leaving an uncomfortable feeling.

"Don't worry, I won't kill you or your friend..."

The strange so-called magician let go of both Gon and Kiyoko, dropping them to the floor after seeing Gon give up struggling. Gon was now gasping for breath with his hand at his throat, Kiyoko crawling over to him quickly and hugging him close.

"He's passed," he said casually, smiling at the two a different smile. "Yes,Yes, you both passed too. Grow up and become a fine hunter.."

_Beep beep beep._

Beeping noises were now heard from the man's pocket as he pulled out a communicator.

'Hisoka, hurry and get back over here. We're nearly close to the site of phase two,' a voice said.

"Okay, I''ll be right there."

The girl shot cold daggers at Hisoka as he walked over to grab Leorio and swung him onto his shoulder like a sack of flour.

"It's always good to have friends.. Isn't it?"

"Let him go!" the teenage girl ordered, finally getting enough air through herself after the little panic attack.

"I won't do harm. Do you know where the stage for the second phase is? I believe you can get back yourself," Hisoka asked.

Gon gave a small nod with shock.

"That's a good boy.. I'll be there waiting for you..."

And with that, the magician walked away and disappeared through the thick fog. The young boy finally loosened up and began panting even harder, a clear drop of sweat rolling down his face.

'GON! KIYOKO!' Kurapika exclaimed in a distance, earning their attentions.

The teen ran up to the two and stopped in front of them.

"Are you both alright? What did he do?"

Gon continued to tremble and stared at the empty space near them, the fog finally lifting.

'He said we passed... What does that mean..?' Gon uttered quietly as he picked up the briefcase he left on the ground.

'Y-yeah, we're fine, Kurapika-kun.. C-come on.. We should get going before it's too late..' Kiyoko ushered, standing up as pain shot up her right leg.

* * *

The three continued running down a covered path of trees and plants as Gon led the way with his sense of smell.

"It's over here!" the young child claimed.

"Are you sure it's this way? Can you really tell?" Kurapika asked as the three jumped onto a Frog-In-Waiting to get pass.

"Sorry!" Gon apologized to the creature. "Yes, I'm sure. I can smell Leorio's unique cologne from here like a few kilometers away."

Kiyoko blinked confusedly and looked at Kurapika who had the same look on his face.

'You're like a dog...!' the surprised boy muttered.

'It's a good thing though...' Kiyoko said back.

"There are also dead animals her to guide us, I believe. They probably got killed after they attacked Hisoka," Gon pointed out on the way.

"But that doesn't actually mean he's heading towards site. He's like a damn devil!" Kurapika said.

"Hey, Kurapika? What he mean back there when he said we passed..?" Gon mentioned again.

"Hisoka was acting as if he was a judge, pretending to be an examiner.." the boy replied.

"Judge? He was grabbing us just for that?"

"Yeah. He must have a way to evaluate an individual's power and it's possible that he was ascertaining everyone's strength. You did land quite a hit on him.. And it looks like you all met his standards," Kurapika said.

"I see... But I wasn't able to do anything against him and what about Leorio? He got knocked out by him.." Gon asked.

"He was literally unfazed my my kick like it did nothing to him at all," Kiyoko said.

"Being blunt here, but maybe it's because you're a girl," Kurapika said.

"If you look down now, you'll see a huge bruise on my right leg from that kick and when he grabbed me," Kiyoko replied casually, not wanting to snap.

"Hmmm, he probably passed you all since he found you all to to be kindred spirits..."

'Such lie... He sounded like he wanted to play with is a little longer!' Kuromi yelled.

"Kindred spirits?" Gon asked.

"I have high doubts that the man could qualify to become a hunter..." the Kurta stated. "However... he did manage to impress me with his superhuman agility and gracefully technique.. It's often that those with who possess special talents are drawn to others with unique gifts."

'Well, if you think about it... THE THREE OF US ARE CERTAINLY NOT NORMAL!' Kuromi pointed out.

"It's possible that his instincts and experience told him that you had the skill and potential to become hunters. Killing you now would just be a waste and that it's a pity.. That's in his perspective," the boy finished.

Everyone went quiet and continued to run along the trail as Kurapika looked at the two with alert.

'Hey, Kiyoko? Are you alright? Hey!'

Kuromi suddenly took over Kiyoko's body fully, noting that the girl's state of mind was weakened by something.

".. I'm sorry that was something insensitive to say," the boy apologized.

"No, Killua said the same thing to me.."

Kuromi scoffed and lowered her eyelids.

"Something's bothering Kiyo right now, so I'm taking over for a bit."

"Kiyo?" the boys asked.

"You mean Kiyoko?" Gon asked.

"Yes, yes now for heaven's sake just shut up!" the girl ordered.

'Kuromi, calm down please.. It's killing me,' Kiyoko said.

'Just rest up, I might have to take on the second phase for you,' Kuromi replied immediately.

Kurapika sighed and shook his head.

"Just know that you guys aren't like that man. He's not even fit to be here."

Gon nodded a little and looked at the floor.

"I was too afraid to do anything back there... It was like the point of no return where we all would've been killed and yet I couldn't run," Gon explained. "It may sound strange, but I felt adrenaline running through me."

"I may have felt the same in that situation, so it's not strange at all to me," Kuromi sighed and tugged at her braided fringe at the same time. "I want to ditch you both right now, but Kiyoko isn't going to let... What would she do at a time like this..."

Kurapika smirked at this and decided to joke around with the cruel girl.

"Complain to me about how tired she is."

Kuromi shot a glare at the boy with her dark, sharp eyes.

"She doesn't complain and simply answers you-"

"Ah, ah, ah. I believe she doesn't talk like that. Try to sound more.. sweeter, caring, and calm," the Kurta interrupted.

Kuromi tried her best to follow his descriptions with a little bit of a twist.

"Does this sound better, faggot?" the girl asked nicely, a glare on her face.

"Yes, now fix your face expression."

Gon giggled at the two and watched the older boy mess around with the negative personal.

" How.. about now.. you arse?" Kuromi asked with a strained smile.

"Loosen up and, of course, lose the name calli-"

"OH TO HELL WITH YOU!" the girl exclaimed, jumping and swiftly kicking Kurapika with the uninjured leg of hers.

The boy blocked the kick and laughed it off as he pushed her leg away.

'Kurapika?' Gon whispered, a smile slapped on his face like usual. 'You seem different.'

'Different? What do you mean? I'm simply doing what Kiyoko told us to do; earn her trust so we don't get strangled,' the boy whispered back.

"What are you two whispering to each other?" Kuromi hissed.

"Eh? I thought you were going to be Kiyoko's replacement?" Kurapika asked in a smug manner.

"Shut up.. We're here anyways..."

The three slowed down to a walking speed and stepped into the area filled with participants, looking around to find Leorio. Gon found Hisoka and noticed the man pointing over at a tree where Leorio sat against.

"Ah! Leorio!" Gon exclaimed, running to the man.

The teens followed after Gon and surrounded the severely injured man who began to regain conscious.

"Haaaaa...? What happened? Why does my face feel swollen and sore? Eh.. Is that Kiyoko or Kuromi?" Leorio asked, rubbing his swollen cheek and looking around.

'It's best not to tell him what happened...' Kurapika instructed, earning a nodded for Gon and a disappointed sigh from Kuromi.

"Gon! I thought you weren't going to be able to make it!" Killua exclaimed, running over to the young boy in green. "You suddenly separated from me and the examiner... How'd you find your way back?"

Gon laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head as he dropped Leorio's case back to the ground.

"Sorry, Killua, I went back to help my friends and I got back here by following Leorio's scent," the boy replied.

'...Y-you're like a dog...!' Killua muttered in surprise.

Killua suddenly felt a small spark between himself and Kuromi, looking over at the girl curiously. The girl felt the young child's eyes stab her body and looked at him with a disinterested straight face. The two continued to stare at each other silently as an uncomfortable tension rose around the two, making the other three boys nervous. Kuromi slowly sat down onto the floor and took off the ribbon around her waist, wrapping her bruised leg with it and sticking her staff into the wrap. The girl took the rose from the ribbon and stuffed it into her bag, careful not to lose the accessory.

"Hello," Killua finally said, giving a sincere smile to the girl.

Kuromi remained the same and gave a small nod to the boy.

"Hi."

Killua's vein slightly popped at her response and dragged Gon away.

'Are you sure she's the way you described her? Cause she sure has an attitude. A bad one too,' Killua whispered to Gon, looking behind him to glance at the girl.

"Oh, I forgot to mention. She has two personalities, so it's like she's two different people. Right now, that's Kuromi, not Kiyoko," Gon responded, sticking his tongue out playful.

"YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME EARLIER!" Killua exclaimed, knocking Gon's head roughly.

* * *

**Hey, guys. I should have updated yesterday, but I was feeling unwell. So next chapter I'll try updating The Start, To Forget Or To Be Forgotten, and Challenge Accepted? soon. I'm still not feeling very good and taking PSAT (that's a huge hint to my age, just saying.) this Wednesday. /: I also need to memorize my line for a reenactment for my English class too. I seriously don't want to perform in front of anyone on Monday (not today), I mean, I can't even talk to people face to face or online. This is why I'm in the music department guys, haha. Anyways, enjoy and good night or day!**

_**~stormy003**_


	9. Chapter 8

A gunshot was heard out of nowhere to catch attentions.

"You all did an excellent job making it here alive and well! Phase two will be taking place here in Biska Forest Park. Now then, I shall take my leave," Satotz announced.

'Finally...' Kuromi muttered.

"Best of luck to you all," the man said, walking away from the tired mob.

'I don't want to run ever again...' Kiyoko said, holding her head in pain.

'Don't worry, I'll take over this phase.'

Kuromi, unaware of the next challenge, walked over to Gon and rested her arm atop his head. The boy looked up at the girl curiously and continued to stare. Kuromi looked down at the boy and kept her straight face on, her eyelids lowered a little. Gon flashed a smile at the negative girl brightly, Kuromi softening her face a little.

'... W-what...?' Kuromi asked trying hard not to break her masked expression.

"Kuromi, you're a very nice person aren't you?" Gon suddenly asked.

Kuromi's remained the same as his question slowly seeped into her head. The girl frowned once her brain processed the suddenly asked question.

"Don't go implying random descriptions of me if you don't know if it's true," Kuromi said, pouting a little and looking away.

Gon giggled a little and reached up to grab Kuromi's hand hanging above his face. The girl flinched at the touch, her eyes widening in surprise, and relaxed her muscles after a little while. Kiyoko smiled at the two and urged Kuromi to do something back, earning a mental groan of displeasure. The cynical girl hesitantly held the young boy's hands back and awkwardly looked away, a small light blush tinting her cheeks.

'Eh, is she going to throw the kid or something?' Leorio muttered, rubbing his swelled up cheek.

Kuromi shot daggers at the man and tightened up her free hand into a fist, her knuckles turning white.

"Idiot, she's going to throw you instead," Kurapika answered.

"Hey, you. Since we're just standing here waiting for the gate, what's your name?" Killua asked, sounding a little too demanding.

Kuromi fixed her gaze onto the boy, not bothering to change her face expression.

".. And who are you?" Kuromi asked in a monotone voice.

Her answering his question with her own ticked the boy off a little. Killua decided to answer her question then asked again and kept himself from snapping at the girl.

"My name is Killua. Again, who are you?" the boy asked again even though her already knew her name.

"Killua, don't you think you're sounding a little bit... rude?" Kuromi asked, smirking a little.

Killua frowned a bit and curled his fingers together into a fist, waiting for an answer. Kiyoko's smirke died down as she took in a deep breath, releasing it with force.

"Kuromi. Kiyoko isn't present right now, so you can't meet her just yet, Snow Pile," the girl answered, looking back forward.

"W-wha.. Snow Pile?!" Killua exclaimed, leaning forward in anger. "Why you old hag!"

Kuromi's composure snapped, the girl trying hard not to display a frown and yet failed horribly at it. Killua smirked and stuck his hands into his pockets, leaning even lower and closer to her as he took notice of her expression.

"Oh? Did I strike a nerve or something?" the child taunted.

'Kiyoko, can I kill him?!' Kuromi thought.

'No, Kuromi, you can't. We'll get disqualified and of course it'll backfire later on,' Kiyoko reasoned.

'Does that mean I can kill him later?'

'No!'

The gates finally began to open slowly, revealing kitchen sets from the inside and two other examiners of the hunter exam. Everyone looked at the sets and tabled with confusion written on their faces, wondering what the next phase was all about. A skimpy looking female proctor was seated on an out of place couch with a giant male proctor standing behind the couch. The participants began to whisper to each other in disappointment as the woman before them switched and recrossed her legs.

"Will every passing attendees pass through this gate to begin the second phase?" The female voice rang.

'What is all this...?'

'Is this a prank..?'

'A kitchen? In the middle of no where?'

The participants continued to mumble questions as they all walked into the field of cooking utensils. Gon didn't bother letting go of Kuromi's hand and dragged the older girl in the area with him, the girl followed hesitantly.

"Welcome, all participants!" the woman began.

A loud noise was heard echoing all around the mob and behind the green eyed woman.

"What... was that just now..?" Killua asked.

"You must be really hungry," the female examiner said, facing the man behind her.

"I'm starved..."

"And there you have it!"

"Wait, what's going on?" someone asked.

"What do you mean? It's obviously the second phase," the woman replied. "Look around you and tell us what you see."

Everyone eyed every identical kitchen set carefully and thought for a bit.

"Aren't they just kitchen counters?" they all asked in sync.

"What about them?" a random man asked.

"Well, let's start with introductions first.. I'm Menchi and this guy here.." Menchi introduced.

"I'm Buhara! We are the examiners for the next phase," the man answered.

"The next phase is going to be all about..." the woman with green hair said.

"TADA! COOKING!" the two examiners exclaimed, showing and gesturing the kitchen counters behind the mob.

"Eh?" everyone exclaimed.

"This must be a joke! C-cooking?" Hanzo hollered.

"Cooking?! We're here to become hunters not become decent or even better cooks!" Todo exclaimed.

'I should have just taken over during the marathon even if Smarty here didn't let you switch places with me! You just had to back out and listen to him and now I'm stuck cooking,' Kuromi sobbed inwardly.

'Ma, ma, don't worry. Just try your best...' Kiyoko hesitantly said.

Kurapika, Leorio, Gon, and Killua looked over at the girl to see tears streaming down her angered face. The boys smiled awkwardly at Kuromi's reaction after she heard the word 'cooking' except for Killua who just looked away and snickered at the girl.

"That is correct! You're test is to prepare a satisfying dish for us both! You said you're here to become hunters? Well we are gourmet hunters," Menchi said proudly.

Everyone went quiet and stared at the two examiners, the participants bursting out laughing afterwards excluding the small group.

'How rude...' Kiyoko said softly.

'Idiots will always be idiots, but why cooking?' Kuromi muttered, pissed.

"What was that?" Gon asked, smiling at the girl like usual.

"Nothing."

"What a disappointment!" a person said. "Gourmet hunters? More like gourmet pigs."

Menchi stared in surprise at the participants and frowned angrily, heaving a heavy sigh. The laughter died down to snickers as the woman glared at the rude attendees.

"IF YOU DON'T WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS NEXT PHASE THEN GO HOME AND TAKE THE TEST NEXT TIME. OTHER THAN THAT, DON'T COMPLAIN!" Menchi hollered.

"What's a gourmet hunter?" Gon asked, finally letting go of the girl's hand.

"A gourmet hunter is a hunter that looks for ingredients around the world to create new cuisines," Kurapika explained.

"Great, more knowledge from the Bookworm..." Kuromi gritted, earning a small glare from the boy.

"So, gourmet hunters, what do we have to make to satisfy you're hungry stomachs?" Todo asked mockingly.

"Hm... Buhara," Menchi growled.

The man stepped forward and shook the ground once he set his foot down onto the ground.

"Each one of us will ask for a dish and taste test your culinary skills. The required ingredient for me is pork, not just any pigs, but the most dangerous pigs in this forest, the Great Stamp," Buhara announced.

"After you pass Buhara's test and earn satisfaction, you will move onto my test," the young woman continued. "Now, go! Second phase begins NOW!"

'Eh? Where the hell are we going to find pigs in the forest?" the mob muttered, walking out of the gate in disappointment.

"So where are we going to look first?" Leorio asked.

"Don't look at me, how should I know?" Kuromi muttered.

The man grumbled something unnecessary and looked away from the girl, turning to Kurapika instead.

"I'm with her. I don't have a clue either," the boy said immediately.

Leorio frowned at the two and gave a long sigh.

"Hey, Kurapika, check my face. It hurts.. You only checked my arm earlier," the man complained.

Kurapika turned his head over and looked at the man for a good half minute, looking away and lowering his eyelids irritably.

"It looks the same as ever. Now, quit complaining," Kurapika said, sounding as calm as ever.

'That sounded like a lie.. And it sure doesn't feel normal to me,' the man muttered angrily.

'Poor Leorio-san..' Kiyoko said, giggling a little.

'There's nothing to pity him about at all...' Kuromi told Kiyoko. 'In fact there's actually too much to take pity on him to the point where it's too much and you end up not pitying him for anything.'

Kiyoko smiled and shook her head. The group made their way down a slope and slid to the very bottom, Gon being the first to slide down the side. The boy stood at his place as everyone else followed him down, bumping into each other in the process.

"Agh! Ow!" Kuromi exclaimed.

"Hey! Watch it!" Killua said, glaring at the girl.

Kuromi returned the expression to the boy, but changed it into a cringe after the other two boys made contact with them all, squishing them together and toppling each other down.

"Oof!" Kurapika grunted.

"Ah- Whoa!" Leorio exclaimed, falling over everyone.

The group were now sandwiched together as they tried picking themselves up from the ground slowly and in pain, Gon still staring out in front of him.

"Hey, Gon, next time... DON'T JUST STAND THERE! MOVE OUT THE WAY!" Leorio exclaimed furiously. 'Now, where are those damn pigs?!'

Gon pointed out in front of him to a group of giant pigs with snouts large enough to cover their faces.

"Over there," the boy said casually.

Everyone looked at the pigs in shock, their jaws dropping to the ground. The animals were munching on bones peacefully until one of them spotted the little group of humans, snapping a bone in half with it's jaws. Leorio flinched and whimpered at the sight, the colors of his face draining into white.

"What now? Are you going to piss in your pants or something, Mr. Courageous?" Kuromi snickered.

Leorio had the urge to scream, but couldn't, his voice hitched up in the back of his throat. The pigs completely stopped what they were doing and began to chase after the tiny group, making them run off and away from the herd.

"Hey, buta-chan... Huh? What's going on?" Hanzo asked, looking up from the bush he was looking through.

The participants stopped their search and looked at where the shaking was being created.

"Is it an earthquake?" a participant asked.

"AS IF!" Tonpa exclaimed.

Dirt clouds were flying all over the place as five silhouettes, a girl and four boys, came running towards them quickly with bigger shadows behind them following after them.

"Ah. We found them," Kuromi said casually, running past everyone without a single huff of tired breath.

The participants didn't get what she said and stared at her confusedly, fixing their gazes to the others with her.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Leorio screamed as he sped by every single thing in the way.

"Ehh... Is this what we have to do?" Killua asked, sounding a little uninterested as he passed by everyone with his hands behind his head.

Gon came running next to Killua with a straight face on, watching Leorio scream off his head.

"I advise you all to run. That's if you don't want to die," Kurapika said, following the other four.

The pigs finally got close enough for everyone to see, causing them all to panic and follow after the little group of newly made friends. Every participant split apart from each other to get the pigs off their hinds, the pigs doing the same to chase after their picked human prey.

"It looks like this little piggy wants to play with us," Kuromi said as she turned around quickly, making her slide backwards as she planted her feet firmly into the ground to halt.

The pig stopped in it's track and huffed a little, pawing the ground several times before charging after the girl. Kuromi jumped out of the way from the animal, making it collide it's giant nose into a tree and delaying it's movement for a second.

"Wow, this pig is like a bull.. It must hate my red hair," the girl said calmly, holding up her hair a bit to look at.

Kiyoko gave a weak chuckle and shook her head a little, making Kuromi smile at herself.

"Feeling any better, Kiyo?" Kuromi asked.

'Yes, just a little tired still,' Kiyoko replied.

Kuromi kicked the incoming pig with her subservient left leg at it's large snout and caused the dangerous animal to topple downward to the ground. The girl set her hands on her hips and leaned a little on her left leg, her right leg being the injured one from earlier.

'You shouldn't worry too much about our brother's thoughts. He's already gone, but even if he wasn't, he wouldn't want his little sister to be worried about his own opinions instead of her own thoughts,' Kuromi thought, knowing this topic was a little too personal to be said out loud.

The pig stood back up onto it's legs, looking ever so angry at Kuromi and huffing a breath through it's nose.

"You are one stubborn pig..." the girl muttered, growing out her tail and knocking the creature off it's feet again.

"HEY, YOU OLD HAG!" Killua called out.

Kuromi's nerves were struck again as the young boy called out to her, making her hide her tail quickly.

"GON SAID TO ATTACK IT'S HEAD! THAT'S IT'S WEAK SPOT!"

Kuromi sighed and bent down to take out her staff from the wrapped ribbon around her leg, extending it to it's fullest and whacking the Great Stamp on it's forehead as hard as she could.

"Is that so?" Kuromi asked herself.

The pig dropped dead onto it's side after the hard contact with the weapon. One by one, each pig tipped over onto to the ground dead as they got hit on the head really hard by the participants. Everyone dragged the dead pigs back without a struggle and went straight to roasting the pig, not caring if it was burnt or still raw.

"I didn't expect this many to pop up.." Menchi said to Buhara, a little impressed.

"I'm hungryyyyyy..." Buhara complained as he eyed the roasting pigs.

'I bet some of the meat got burnt,' Kuromi muttered, looking at the other's dishes.

'Pay attention to your own or yours would burn too,' Kiyoko warned.

'Right...'

Each participants began to line up in front of the examiners with their roasted pig in hand, eager to hurry up and pass the so-called Second Phase. Kuromi met up with the others in the middle of the field and headed over to the long line, waiting for their turn patiently. It was now Kuromi's turn to present her dish, the girl awkwardly scooting towards the two examiners and setting down her dish.

'I feel like an ant near him..' the negative girl thought.

'I would've of also if I was in that position... In fact, I feel like one anyways!' Kiyoko responded.

Buhara hobbled down the roasted pig hungrily even though he already ate more than thirty of the same dish.

"Yhep! you pash!" the man said, his mouth full of meat.

Kuromi nodded and walked away a little disgusted by the man's action.

"Pass! Pass! Pass! Pass!" the giant examiner repeated.

"Is this even..." Kurapika started.

"An exam anymore?" Leorio finished.

Kuromi gave a quiet shrug and scratched her head a little confused.

"I'm a really bad cook and yet, to pass me just like that, I have no idea anymore," the girl said.

"Since fifty of you guys got passed by Buhara, It's now my turn to test you all," Menchi said. "My dish would be... sushi!"

Everyone went quiet and looked around to look for reactions, getting the same expression as themselves. Menchi smirked and stood up from her seat, crossing her arms together. The mob began to ask each other and mutter 'What the heck is sushi?' as Menchi stood in her place and listened.

"I'll give you a hint. All the tools you need to prepare the dish are already out. I've also already provided the rice for you lots and now for the type of sushi? Nigiri Sushi," the woman said in a smug attitude.

"Hmmmm, how would you prepare this dish...?" Leorio thought out loud.

"What's sushi?" Gon asked as everyone went over to the stationed counters.

"Kid, you ask about everything..." Kuromi said between her teeth.

"I actually agree with the old hag here," Killua said.

"You little faggot, quit calling me that!" the girl hissed.

"I remembering reading it somewhere before, but I don't know the exact shape of it..." Kurapika started.

The attendees were curiously looking at their rice spatulas and playing around with the cooked rice as Hanzo looked around with excitement, trying hard to cover it up, but failed miserably.

'What a dope..' Kuromi muttered.

'If I recall... I believe Nigiri requires fish, no?' Kiyoko asked.

'Then we'll find fish, I guess,' Kuromi responded.

"So what you're saying is that we need fresh fish?! Where on earth do we get that? We're in a forest!" Leorio exclaimed.

Kurapika suddenly threw his rice spatula at Leorio's face, trying to make him shut up. Everyone in the area stared at the two for a while and then began running out of the gate once again.

"Idiot," Kuromi said out loud, walking away.

"FISH! WE NEED FISH!"

The mob began to shove each other out of the way to go find a water source and fish for the ingredient they needed most.

"YOU ARE SO LOUD!" Kurapika yelled.

"THEY WERE EAVESDROPPING!" Leorio exclaimed.

'I might as well keep my mouth shut then!' the boy growled.

"Aren't you glad, Gon? It's fishing and you're good at it!" Killua exclaimed, following Kuromi in the forest.

"Yeah!" the boy answered.

'This is going to take a while...' Kuromi sighed.

* * *

**Stormy: Hey, guys! Sorry if I delayed this story for a bit! Bad memory and stress... ^^"**

**Kuromi: Seriously... You forget to easily! Baaaakaaa. -_-"**

**Kiyoko: Kuromi short memory span and stress doesn't mean they are an idiot. Give them some time! ^u^"**

**Stormy: No, it's alright, really! ^^"**

**Kurapika: Write down a note or something so you don't forget. ._.**

**Stormy: That won't help.. _ _"**

**Kurapika: Might as well and burn it in your head... -digs through bag-**

**Stormy: NOPE! I'M FINE! This is the shortes- KURAPIKA! I SAID I'M FINE! -covers head-**

**Leorio: Eh? What's going on?**

**Stormy: Nothing, nothing, just ending this chapter. Now where was I? Oh, yes! Shortest chapter for this stor-**

**Leorio: WAIT, WAIT, WAIT, AREN'T YOU FORGETTING ABO-**

**Kilua: Kurapika and Kiyoko moments?**

**Stormy: No, Killua, I think it's still too early..**

**Leorio: Ah- Wait, that's not what-**

**Killua: Aw...**

**Gon: Then what about art?**

**Stormy: OH, RIGHT! THANK YOU, GON! -ruffles hair- HEY, MINNA! SOME OF YOU READERS MAY KNOW THAT I'M MORE OF AN ARTIST THAN A WRITER. I DRAW MORE THAN I WRITE OR JUST AS MUCH. Actually, I don't know myself... OH WELL. ANYWAYS! I PLAN TO START TAKING COMMISSIONS, BUT I'D LIKE OPINIONS FIRST. WHENEVER I TAKE REQUESTS AND OF COURSE FOR FREE, PEOPLE TEND TO DEMAND AND RUSH ME TO FINISH THEIR REQUEST AS QUICK AS POSSIBLE. I DON'T EVEN THINK THEY REALLY CARE ABOUT MY SCHOOL WORK, EXTRA ACTIVITIES, FREE TIME, AND HOUSE TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK, I'D LIKE TO HEAR OPINIONS!**

**Kurapika: Oh and there is a poll on Stormy's profile. They rarely communicate to anyone unless it's necessary like a review or PM from other people or when people want to befriend them. Go check it out if you want! The poll is who is your favorite OC Stormy created/designed. Read other stories to know more about them!**

**Kuromi: Vote for Kiyo and I! -whispers- Or just me would be fine... -smirks-**

**Kiyoko: They might like other characters more than us you know.. They might not even like us in general!**

**Stormy: Nahhh, I know you guys are loved too, don't worry! I'll be updating The Start, To Forget Or To Be Forgotten, Challenge Accepted?, and of course this story; The One Dream when I can! Thanks so much for being patient with me!**

**Kurapika: I think that's it..**

**Stormy: Okay****, then...**

**Everyone: Thanks for reading, reviewing, following, and liking this story and ENJOY THIS CHAPTER! R&amp;R!~**

**Leorio: I never got to finish my question... -sob-**

_**~Stormy003**_


	10. Chapter 9

"Ahhhh ah. You're so cold Menchi," Buhara chuckled, turning to the shorter woman. "Sushi is mainly made with fresh saltwater fish correct?"

The woman looked at the man and smirked.

"That's why this is going to be interesting," the young lady replied, turning back to watch the group break apart.

"Now I think about it..." Kuromi said. "Is sushi made with specific fish types or just any kind of fish...?"

Kiyoko blinked at the question curiously and thought for a while. The water in the river reached above Kuromi's ankles once she took a step in with her bare feet, continuing it's path down the stream. The girl rolled up her baggy capris and walked out into the water until it reached up to her knees.

'Oh lord, the water is cold..' the girl muttered to herself.

'Well, since you brought it up.. I don't actually remember..' Kiyoko said, scratching her head awkwardly. 'It's been awhile since I've tried sushi..'

Kuromi groaned and looked down at her feet to see fishes swimming near and around her gracefully.

'How about we ask Kurapika if he knows?'

"Who's Kurapika?" Kuromi asked disgruntled. "Oh wait, the bookworm?

Kiyoko slapped her face and shook her head disappointedly.

'Yes, yes,' the resting girl replied.

"Ha, I doubt he'll know. So how are we going to catch these fishes...?"

The girl looked at everyone else to see what method they were using and noticed several people using handmade spears, their bare hands, or just swimming in the water to catch their own fish. Gon was the only odd one out, possessing a fishing rod of his own to catch his prey.

'I guess were could use our staff to whip them up into the air and out of the water,' Kiyoko suggested.

Kuromi nodded at the suggestion and pulled out her extended staff from her waist. Once she stuck the staff into the flowing liquid covering the area, Hisoka suddenly popped up from underneath the surface a few meters away from her with a fish squirming in his mouth. The girl jumped at the sight and stared at him with a confused and uncomfortable look, slowly trudging away from the man.

'Well then... I'll be taking my leave then...' Kuromi muttered quickly.

Hisoka brushed his red hair out of his face and left the fish in his mouth as he watched the stunned alternative of Kiyoko leave to another area of the river.

'Oh?' the man muffled with the now dead fish flopping in his mouth.

'Kiyoko, note to self: STAY AWAY FROM THAT FREAKISH CLOWN GUY!' the girl told herself.

'Of course,' Kiyoko replied, shivering at the thought. 'He scares me anyways...'

Returning to the exam grounds, the girl looked at all the exotic looking fishes the rest of the participant brought in.

'At least get a normal fish guys...' Kuromi thought.

'Focus,' Kiyoko told Kuromi. 'We need to pass this test, but despite how bad you cook...'

'Shut up, Kiyoko, don't say it.'

'If you say so..'

'Oh this is getting interesting...!' Menchi said silently, containing most of her excitement. "I'm curious to see what peculiar dish they came up with. Today, I'm here posing more as a cook than a proctor."

"I don't think that's appropriate though," Buhara said as the woman licked her lips hungrily.

"What was that?" Menchi asked, looking up at the gigantic man with an innocent smile.

"N-nothing..."

Menchi frowned at the answer and focused back to the attendees, smiling with curiosity once again. Buhara stared at his partner with worry written all over his face.

"As a chef, huh? Hopefully she doesn't get into her bad habit again.."

'I never cooked before...' Gon began, everyone turning to him. 'Well actually, the only thing I made was egg and rice."

The group chuckled at the boy and shrugged at Gon's statement.

"Maybe you can try it someday!" the boy exclaimed.

"Sure, sure, I'll try it," Leorio agreed, nodding his head.

"Yeah, same here," Kurapika added.

Everyone began to set up their own things to prepare their dish for the exam. Kuromi curiously looked over to see what Leorio was doing with his dish, noticing the compressed rice balls he was creating on a separate dish. She then turned over to look at Gon and Kurapika and saw the two boys still thinking really hard about the requested dish.

'This is hopeless..' the girl muttered, lightly banging her head against the table.

"Well, it's only hopeless if you're just going to complain and not work or think," Kurapika pointed out.

"Shut up, Cat Face," Kuromi spat out.

The boy shook his head and went back into deep thought about his dish, ignoring the girl once again. Kuromi scratched her head annoyingly and groaned a little.

'Kiyoko, how do we start this off?' the girl asked.

'Figure it out,' the girl replied.

Kuromi groaned again in a pissed off manner and started mimicking Leorio's actions.

'I guess I'll just follow along then,' Kuromi decided.

'Alright then, I'll be trying to remember what sushi looks like then' Kiyoko offered. 'Read me when you think I got an idea of it.'

'Okay then,' Kuromi replied.

After a few minutes later, Leorio finally finished hs dish, revealing only one piece of his so-called sushi.

"You took that long just to make one?" Kuromi asked awkwardly, pointing at the leftover rice balls.

"Looks matter, okay?" the man exclaimed.

"Its a fish stuck in the center of a damn rice ball," Kuromi said.

"SO WHAT? IT'LL STILL BE APPETIZING! I THINK!"

"Yeah, yeah... Let's see if it'll taste good even though it looks disgusting."

The girl reached out a little and received a slap on her hand from Leorio.

"No, no, no. This is the key to passing this test. No touching," Leorio instructed.

Kuromi snickered a little and turned back to her plate.

"Right, we'll see about that."

The man walked away with the finished cuisine in his hands towards the examiners, the first one to turn in a dish.

'Oh? Lucky! Looks like I get to pass first!' the man though triumphantly.

Kuromi began to search through Kiyoko's thoughts and sighed when she finally found the recorded info of sushi in the girl's mind.

'Do I have to cut the fishes into slices?' the girl complained. 'I suck at cutting up even slices of whatever I'm cutting...'

'Deal with it please,' Kiyoko sighed.

'Fine.'

The girl began to cut up the fishes into sets of fish slices, accidentally cutting her finger in the process.

"Ah! Ow.."

Kuromi looked at her finger and studied the dribbling blood, pain still lingering around the pad of her index finger.

"Ah? You cut yourself I see," Kurapika said, facing the girl fully.

"You think?" the girl said sarcastically.

The boy just shook his head at her answer and grabbed Kuromi's hand to inspect the wound closer.

"H-hey! let go!" Kuromi exclaimed, frowning at the Kurta's action.

"It's not too deep, so that's fine,' Kurapika muttered to himself, completely brushing off Kuromi.

"HEY, BLONDIE! DID YOU NOT HEAR ME?!" Kuromi yelled, trying to pull back her hand.

'Yes, yes, I heard you, but I don't feel like it,' Kurapika thought.

Kuromi growled at how stubborn the boy was being and continued to glare daggers at him. Kurapika finally let go of her hand for a brief second to dig out a piece of cloth in his bag next to him, returning to the position he was in and grabbing her once again. Kuromi sighed in an annoyed way and looked away as she felt the boy dab the cloth on her finger.

"Be careful next time. It's not too deep, but if it was, you might have fed the examiners blood or your entire finger,' the boy said matter-of-factly.

"Or even your head if you keep this up," the girl snarled.

Kurapika was completely unfazed by the threat and shrugged a bit as an answer.

"I slightly doubt that."

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS CRAP?!" Menchi exclaimed, loud enough to made everyone jump.

"It's sushi what else!" Leorio fought back, not as loud as the enraged woman.

"IT LOOKS NOTHING LIKE SUSHI! I WON'T ACCEPT THIS! NOW GO START OVER!" Menchi ordered, shooing the man away.

Leorio walked back to his station and grumbled a few disappointing words as he did so.

"So was I right or was I right?" Kuromi asked in a smug manner, smirking at the man.

"Shut up. I'm going to pass this damn test no matter what," Leorio growled angrily.

Kuromi began to laugh and slapped her forehead to calm down.

'Stay still!' Kurapika thought, losing his patience as he tried wrapping up the girl's cut.

"Looks like I'm next!" Gon said excitedly.

The boy took the plate in front of him and walked over to the two examiners to get his food inspected and graded.

"THIS IS NO DIFFERENT TO #403'S ENTRY! GO BACK AND RE-DO IT!" the woman hollered.

"I-I'm like... Leorio..?" Gon asked a little shocked.

"Don't worry, Gon. I understand you to the fullest.." Kurapika said sympathetically.

"IS THAT SUPPOSE TO BE AN INSULT?!"

'It looks like she's back to her old habits again,' Buhara thought worriedly.

More participants began to turn in their dishes and formed a long line for inspections.

"NO!"

The next attendee walked up to the woman with a straight face.

"NO!"

The man growled and walked away as the woman threw the plate behind her, feeding Buhara with the unaccepted dishes.

"Hmm...?"

The woman stared at Killua for a moments as he smiled and presented his cuisine.

"Shrimp cocktail, marinated trout with mustard sauce and rice, It's a sushi in bourgogne style," the boy explained.

Menchi was now getting frustrated by everything around her and frowned harder than usual.

"THAT. IS. GROSSS!" the young lady exclaimed, flipping the plate over herself. "DO IT AGAIN!"

'Damn,' the boy muttered, walking away with his hands in his pockets.

"She grades ridiculously hard..." Kuromi said.

'No kidding..' Kiyoko agreed.

"CLOSE, BUT NOT CLOSE ENOUGH! DISGUSTING! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT? IS IT STILL ALIVE?! NOOOOOOO!"

Plates continued to fly behind the female proctor as Buhara gulped all the cuisines down continuously. Kurapika was now in deep thought once again, his chin resting in between his thumb and index finger. The boy suddenly snapped his fingers together and ran over to the station, finally starting his dish, Kuromi staring at the boy curiously.

'He seems to have an idea of how sushi looks like..' Kuromi thought.

The Kurta picked up the knife next to him and began to quickly chop things up with much speed.

'What is he cu- HA?!' the girl thought, ducking before the knife Kurapika threw behind him hit her.

"THAT'S THE SECOND TIME YOU ALMOST KILLED ME!" Kuromi exclaimed furiously.

'Kids, don't play with knives...' Kiyoko pointed out frighteningly.

"FINISHED!" Kurapika announced, holding up his dish triumphantly.

'Tch, idiot...'

Kurapika walked over to the examiner and chuckled triumphantly as he prepared to reveal his dish. Menchi raised her eye brow and waited for the boy to lift up the tray.

"... IT'S NO DIFFERENT TO #403, YOU DUMB PRICK!" Menchi exclaimed, throwing away the plate again.

Kurapika was left in shock, his hair disheveled and his eye twitching irritatedly.

'N-no different.. to.. #4... 03?' the boy thought hopelessly.

"IS IT THAT MUCH OF A SHOCK TO YOU?!" Leorio exclaimed.

Kuromi shook her head and turned in her own plate to get the same disapproval everyone has been receiving.

"LOOKS LIKE IT, BUT TASTES NOTHING LIKE IT!"

'Is that even possible..?' Kiyoko thought. 'Did you do something to the fish?'

Kuromi walked away while whistling innocently, pretending not to her Kiyoko.

'Oh? What was that, Kiyo? I didn't quite catch it...'

'That's a lie,' the girl said.

* * *

After throwing all the dishes the participants fixed up, Menchi sighed and stared at Hanzo's dish and decided to try it.

"Finally, a decent looking dish..." the woman said, eating it. "... Nope, not good enough. Do it again."

The man was now inrritated by how picky the woman was and threw a fit.

"I CUT THE FISH AND PLACED A SLICE OF IT ON TOP OF A PERFECTLY SIZED RICE BALL FOR YOU AND YET YOU DON'T PASS ME?!" he exclaimed angrily.

Everyone stared at the two for a moment and ran off back to their stations to prepare more sushi.

"Tch.. Now everyone knows what it is, you idiot!" the young woman exclaimed.

Hanzo chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck.

"It's not all about looks! It's also about the damn taste! If you don't put effort in it, it'll taste like crap!" Mechi hollered, pulling out her four trusty butcher knives from behind her.

Food continued to overflow the place as Menchi taste tested each one of them slowly, one by one.

"No. The rice is too pressed together. It won't break apart," the woman judged.

Gon's face expression fell after the test and walked back to his station.

'Menchi, I think you're grading to-' Buhara began.

"Shut up and watch," the woman said.

The man immediately shut his mouth and kept quiet.

"Nope. It's unevenly cut. It's too loose. I don't even need to eat it! No. Do it again. You failed..."

After an hour passed, the woman sighed and leaned back behind her onto the couch.

"Haaaa... I'm full..." Menchi said. "Well, that's that! See you all next time!~"

The group glowered at the woman angrily and built up tension between them all and the examiners.

"What? It just means you have another chance for next year. I wasn't satisfies with any of your dishes, so you all failed. Take it and leave," the young proctor explained.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!" Todo exclaimed angrily taking a step forward.

Buhara knocked the man into the air and sent him flying onto the roof in one hard punch, making everyone flinch. Menchi juggled and played around with her butcher knives as everyone continued to gape.

"Follow my rules or never participate again," the lady growled.

An airship suddenly appeared above everyone from the sky, slowly descending onto the ground. The ship's doors opened up and revealed an old man in all white and very little blue standing there before them.

"N-Netero-san!" Menchi exclaimed.

* * *

**Sorry, everyone. I'm going to take a break and I don't know how long it'll be. I'm sick right now and I have a lot of school work and stress, so ALL of my stories will undergo a hiatus. I'll try to get back with you all and stuff, but please don't get mad! It's not fun being sick and having stress and stuff.. T-T'**

**_~stormy003_**


	11. Chapter 10

'That blimp, it has the emblem of the hunters' associates..! It must be the committee!' the group whispered. 'Who is that old man though? Is he also from the committee?'

"That old man your talking about is the chairman! Show your respects!" Menchi said.

"It'd be a disappointment to fail every single applicant here," Netero chuckled, sticking his arms through the opposite sleeves. "What's happen he-"

"PLEASE GIVE US A TIME OUT!" Gon suddenly exclaimed, raising his hand.

"Time out?" the old man repeated.

"Hey, kid! I said show your respects!" Menchi exclaimed.

"I want to pass! I need to! I want to find and see my dad!" Gon reasoned.

"Well, I'm sorry for you! But look here, the right to decide belongs to the proctor, which is me. You got that, kid?"

"That's why all you have to do is reevaluate the test for us!" Gon said.

"NO MEAN'S NO! THE. TEST. IS. OFFICIALLY. OVER!" Menchi exclaimed. "THAT INCLUDES ALL OF YOU! SERIOUSLY, JUST LEAVE!"

"NO ONE IS GOING TO ACCEPT THAT, YOU USELESS GOURMET HUNTERS! WE'RE SURE ALL YOU DO IS SIT THERE AND EAT!" some man yelled.

"That's it. I'm going to kill someone if this keeps going on. NETERO-SAN, PLEASE MAKE THEM LEAVE!" the young woman exclaimed.

'This woman is irritating…!' Kuromi muttered, wanting to attack.

'Leave her be… I'm sure the man over there would stop her from throwing a fit,' Kiyoko replied.

'Yeah right.'

"What is the chairman doing out here though?" Pokkle decided to ask.

"Oh well, I mainly work behind the scenes and all, but I also appear when there is a problem like this!" the man said in a happy tone.

"A chairman that turns out to be an old geezer… Interesting…" Killua said, smirking a little.

"So what seems to be the problem here, Menchi-kun?" Netero asked. "You seemed to have failed everyone here because you disapproved their hesitation to try new things?"

"Uh. Y-Yes..!" the woman replied. "My objection was to pull them through the unknown subject of cooking and have them discover new things without using only brute strength!"

'Look at that! She appears to be nervous around him!' Leorio whispered to Kurapika.

'That proves how important that man is to the proctors.. That also means he's a savior to us all..' the boy whispered back.

'I can see his eyes trailing her bust right now…'Kuromi said in disgust.

'Pervert…' Kiyoko muttered.

"That's why I've decided to give them a challenging subject to deal with! But…"

"But?" Netero urged.

"Well… I…."

"You seemed to judge them with that goal in mind…."

"I just lost it when one of the candidates insulted the Gourmet Hunters…" the woman concluded. "I seemed to have made it harder than I planned to at first."

"So, to conclude your statement, you are aware that the exam you put up was unacceptable," the old man said.

"Yes, sir.. When it comes to cooking, I always tend to lose control over myself. I am not qualified to be a proctor and I will step down from that duty as an examiner," Menchi said. "Please redo the second phase!"

'Kuro, want to switch?' Kiyoko asked, sighing with relief.

'Feeling any better, Kiyo?' Kuromi thought.

'Yes, much.'

The two switched roles unnoticed as the conversation between the proctor and the chairman continued.

"You are an honest young lady, if you haven't noticed. I do see some problems as a proctor, but I understand. You being a Gourmet Hunter with the title of Single Star Hunter, it proves that you are very passionate about cooking. It will be difficult to find another examiner on such short notice, so.."

"I'm sorry, Chairman Netero.." Menchi said, bowing a little.

"Let me propose this one idea. I'd like you to continue serving your job as a proctor, must you participate as well in the new test you suggest; a demonstration that is! Is that acceptable?"

The group stared at the young woman with hesitation and curiosity as the old man continued to talk.

"I'm sure with this new proposal; the participants will accept the results of their new test. It'll also be a lot easier to judge!"

"I was worried about what was going to happen to us just now…" Leorio said.

"We're still going to be tested by our ability in cooking, so we can't take it easy just yet," Kurapika reminded the man.

"We're going to have another test!" Gon exclaimed.

"Aren't you glad about that, Gon?" Killua chuckled.

"Yup!"

'At least I'll be the one handling this..' Kiyoko thought, looking at her covered finger.

Todo stood up from the spot her fell and rubbed at his bloodied mouth with irritation.

"That is quite true….. Well then.. The new test will be boiled eggs!" the woman said, smiling.

"Boiled eggs?" the group said in unison.

"YAY!" Gon exclaimed

"Well, gee.. That's…" Killua started.

'I just had to give you the harder test.. I'm sorry, Kuro!' Kiyoko giggled silently.

'Just my luck…' the counterpart grumbled.

"Netero-san, may I ask if you can take us all to that mountain, Mt. Split-in-Half, in your airship?" Menchi requested.

"Mt. Split-in-Half? I see.. I most certainly can, that can be easily arranged immediately!"

Everyone immediately headed in to the airship and headed to the mountain where there was a giant split in the middle of nowhere on the mountain.

* * *

The participants were all looking down the cliff of the mountain with hesitation or determination written clearly on their faces.

"Here we are!" the female examiner exclaimed.

"Ummmm… Where the hell are we?" a male voice asked.

"What is it like to be down there..?" Todo asked in alert.

"Don't worry, there's a river down there. Everyone, look carefully down there," Menchi said.

At first the cliff was foggy until it began to clear up a second later, revealing thick webs creating horizontal ladders below.

"W-what is that…?" one of the applicants asked.

"A Spider Eagles' web" the young proctor said casually.

"W-webs? They build webs? Down in that pit?" Hanzo asked.

A strong gust of wind suddenly blew upwards into the hunter and hunters-in-progress's faces, Todo flinching and falling backwards. Killua and Gon were still glued to the floor, looking down the cliff curiously.

"Look below the web," Menchi said.

"Those are…." a male participant asked.

"I see sacs of eggs down there…?" Kiyoko asked.

"Those are Spider Eagle eggs," Menchi replied, patting Kiyoko's back a little forcefully.

'Oof. Ugh. Auck!' the girl grunted silently every time her back made contact with Menchi's hand.

"Spider Eagles always build their webs in deep canyons like these to protect their eggs from land predators," the woman explained, halting her action. "This makes their eggs one of the most strenuous ingredients to get our hands on just like the moss on a Big Horn Bear's horns."

Kiyoko cautiously rubbed her back to stop the tingling sensation lingering around her skin, not wanting Menchi to see.

"These eggs are also known to be dream eggs," Netero added.

"W-wait just a minute.." Todo said. "What you're saying is- You mean we're all going to-"

"I sure do," Menchi cut the man off.

"W-WHAT?"

Menchi stepped closer to the edge and took off her heels swiftly, turning around to face the others.

"Well, I'll be going ahead!"

And with that she leapt into the ravine head first and caught onto a thick rope of web, everyone in panic.

"HA!?"

The woman sighed once she was able to get a grip on the web.

"Even if she's able to grab some of the eggs, how is she going to get back up?" Leorio asked.

"I guess that's why we're watching, to see how.." Kiyoko said. "If there was no way back up, why would she jump off down there for?"

"Err… Kiyoko or Kuromi..?" Leorio asked awkwardly.

"Guess!" the girl exclaimed.

"It's Kiyoko, dimwit," Kurapika answered.

"Ding, ding, ding! That's correct!"

Menchi continued to hang on the same rope of web, waiting patiently for another gust to come quickly. Just a small quiver of air moved a thin lock of her green hair, indicating that a gust was coming soon. The woman immediately took the chance to let go and dropped to the bottom, grabbing an egg on the way down.

"AHHH!"

Todo covered up his eyes with an arm and looked away frighteningly, everyone else leaning in further to watch.

"S-she jumped!" Leorio announced in shock.

"Are you a reporter or something?" Kiyoko asked, still having her gaze fixed on the demonstration.

"B-but she jumped! Is she trying to kill herself?!" the man asked.

"No, she's not.." Kurapika replied, still watching.

"Huh?"

A strong gust of wind immediately began to blow the young proctor back up to their level, Gon and Killua watching with interest and excitement.

"Haaa!" Gon said.

"Ooh..! That looks fun…!" Killua exclaimed.

"This gulley has updrafts that will help hatched chicks fly back up to their web," Netero explained as Menchi landed in front of him. It's quite a height and the chicks usually never touch the water below. It does happen, but rarely."

"There you go! Now all I need to is to boil this egg!" the female examiner concluded, showing the giant dirty white egg that sat in her hand. "Oh, also, if you fall into the river, you'll be washed out into the sea that's kilometers away from here. It moves quite fast really."

"Y-you're joking. You must be," Todo stuttered, Menchi looking over. "You say it as if it was easy! No sensible person would commit a half-hearted suicide for this…."

"I'm actually glad! I've been waiting for this moment!" Gon exclaimed.

"It's actually a lot easier than running and cooking random unknown dishes…" Leorio said, looking down the cliff.

"I actually agree with you," Kurapika said.

"It's not too bad. It's just grabbing an egg and getting back up to boil it," Kiyoko said casually.

"I'm going ahead. YAHHHHHH!" Leorio screamed.

Leorio went full speed ahead and jumped off the cliff with confidence, Killua remained silent and casually stepped off the cliff with his hands still in his pockets, and Gon literally knelt down and dived right off the cliff. Kiyoko just watched the three drop until Kurapika raised up his right hand and hid his left behind his back.

"I'm going to. Let's go, Kiyoko," the boy said, falling off the cliff backwards.

"Oh, why not?" the girl said, smiling a bit.

Her hands were still on her hips as she took a small hop and dropped quickly to the bottom where the web was built. Todo looked at the five applicants with shock on his face, thinking they were all crazy.

"Ah!" Menchi urged out, but it was too late. "I wasn't finished with my explanation of everything to do!"

"Count me in!" Hanzo exclaimed, jumping into the gorge with some of the other participants. "Here I go!"

"How about the rest of you? Are you going to drop out?" Menchi asked, looking at the remaining participants.

Gon was able to grab onto a rope of thread and bounced upwards a little.

"It also takes a lot of courage to quit this exam. Don't worry there will be another exam next year," Netero said, facing behind him.

Killua was able to land on the stretchy rope of web perfectly fine on his feet as Kurapika caught the rope with a single hand. Leorio grabbed onto a rope with his entire body, his arms hugging it close to him and his legs crossed together to stop himself from falling and secured. Kiyoko grabbed onto the web with a single hand as she slightly swung herself upwards and hung upside down, legs locked in case she dropped.

"I-I'm going too!" Todo exclaimed, jumping off as well.

Several of the applicants that dropped and never got a grip of the web fell into the river, being pushed away quickly by the rushing water. The cluster of humans hanging on the web waited silently for the updraft, several people becoming impatient.

"That's it! I'm going!" a man exclaimed, letting go of the web and falling into the river with an egg.

"I'll go get my egg first before the wind comes," Killua said, dashing off on the web to grab an egg near him.

"That's quite a good idea," Kiyoko agreed, flipping off from the rope of web she hung from and grabbing the one below her to launch herself up higher with momentum.

Leorio, Kurapika, and Gon nodded at each other and pull themselves up onto the web and carefully yet swiftly ran to the closest eggs they had access to, everyone still remaining from the drop either doing the same thing or just hanging until it was time to drop. Todo growled and followed the group, trying to find a cluster of eggs near him.

"Should we go now? WAH!" Leorio asked impatiently, slipping and grabbing onto the web quickly.

"Not yet….." Gon replied.

"Eh? Why not?"

"There's no wind," Killua responded.

"There isn't always an updraft," Kurapika answered.

"Would you like to fall into the river too, Leorio-san?" Kiyoko asked, bouncing on the web like a child.

"N-no.."

"I thought so."

"When is the next one then…?" Leorio groaned.

"Wait," Gon suddenly said.

Everyone went quiet again and looked over at him as a small gust of wind blew past the people. He smelled the air again like the time he predicted the storm on the boat, certain ropes of web beginning to rip from the amount of people hanging on it.

"What?!" Leorio exclaimed with surprise.

"The web isn't going to hold us all!" Kurapika exclaimed.

'It's a good thing you're on a web of your own,' Kuromi muttered.

'Oh hush. It'd be bad if those guys fell into the pit..' Kiyoko replied, grabbing the web she stood on and dropping to hang.

"Gon? It's not here yet?" Killua asked, lowering himself to Kiyoko's level.

"The threads of web is going to rip soon.." Kiyoko said worriedly, the silver haired boy looking at her.

"I can't wait for an updraft any longer, damn it!" a man exclaimed, dropping off the web with two other people.

'Looks like they're goners..' Killua muttered.

'That's true..' Kiyoko whispered back.

The three regretted dropping and began to scream as they landed in the river. Only a few strands held the web to the side of the canyon, causing panic to everyone.

"G-Gon…. IT'S GOING TO SNAP SOON!" Leorio exclaimed.

"... NOW!" the boy exclaimed.

The remaining hunters below let go of the web to head down and grab an egg or just dropped to the bottom with an egg in hand to be blown back up by the strong gust of wind. Todo missed grabbing an egg in the process due to his anxiety and was blown back up empty handed, disappointed in himself.

"Alright! Show me all the eggs you've gotten!" Menchi instructed as Buhara got a pot ready. "You are all going to boil the eggs for yourself and just so you know, it's not like boiling an ordinary egg as they boil in different times. Boiled eggs are fine dishes too. Boiling time is the most important point in cooking this dish. A half cooked egg and an overcooked egg means you fail."

The hunters grabbed a net as they groaned and circled around the gigantic pot, dropping in their eggs.

* * *

"Is it time yet….?" Leorio growled impatiently.

"Not really," Kiyoko answered.

'Impatient bastard,' Kuromi thought.

"Just a little longer…" Kurapika added.

"I don't even know how to boil an ordinary egg int it's assigned time…" Killua stated, leaning in to look at the eggs.

Kiyoko giggled a little and ruffled the boy's already messed up hair.

"I guess this is something new for you then," Kiyoko said, the boy looking at her curiously.

The eggs began to hop around in the pot as Buhara leaned in a little anxiously.

'Ooh….'

The participants slowly turned their heads over to the big man with curiosity.

"He just said 'ooh!'," Gon pointed out.

"Then that means…" Leorio said.

"IT'S READY! HURRY! IT'LL OVERCOOK! I DON'T WANT TO FAIL THIS TEST!" the applicants yelled, reaching in to snag an egg with their net. "I GOT IT!"

* * *

"Go ahead and try it!" Menchi offered.

Everyone began to peel open their eggs and took a bite of the Spider Eagle's eggs, eyes widening up a little.

"This is so damn good," Hanzo exclaimed with his mouth full. "A lot better than the eggs you buy in stores…"

"I can see why they are called dream eggs," Kurapika said.

Kiyoko allowed Kuromi emerge and take half of her body for the time being as she ate a bit of the egg.

"This isn't bad.." Kuromi said.

"Mhm. It is good," Kiyoko agreed.

"Is just me or is she talking to herself?" Killua asked, taking another big bite from his egg.

"Ahaha, not really, kid," Leorio said. "They are one person, but at the same time they aren't. Kuromi has a sharper and ruder sounding voice and Kiyoko's voice sounds warmer and calm."

"Rude? What a joke, what about you?" Kuromi asked.

"Kuro, calm down.." Kiyoko said.

Kuromi began to grumble to herself as she listened to her positive self.

"I see what you mean.." the boy said.

"Todo-san!" Gon exclaimed.

"Huh?"

"Would you like to try some?"

Menchi looked over to the two and smiled at Gon as the man grabbed the egg and tried a bite.

".. It's delicious…!" the man said, his eyes opening wide.

"And so you've now experienced the overwhelming joy of uncovering a new ingredient and how it can taste so good," Menchi said, strolling over to the two. "We Gourmet Hunters risk our lives for that one particular joy. It's just like a Blacklist Hunter experiencing their victorious capture of a criminal, becoming overwhelmed with happiness. That's why we are proud to be a Gourmet Hunter"

".. I-I've been outdone this year…. I'll be back for the next exam though!" Todo exclaimed, walking away.

"That. IS SO COOL!" Gon exclaimed, looking at the woman next to him.

"Well, I am suppose to be a genius Gourmet Hunter. I need to prove myself to be a good proctor as well," the young woman said. "Chairman."

Netero nodded at the woman.

"Phase two, forty-two of you passed this phase! Menchi's menu is now over!"

"Thank god!" the group exclaimed, chatter filling the open space as they headed back to the airship.

* * *

**Stormy: I'M SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING FOR MORE THAN A MONTH! I HAVE A LOT OF HOMEWORK, I GOT SICK ON OCTOBER 31 AND IT TAKES ME A MONTH TO RECOVER, SO I'M MUCH BETTER NOW, I HAVE A BUNCH OF REQUESTS AND A BUNCH OF STORIES TO UPDATE, AND I ALSO NEED MY DRAWING TIME AND MUSIC TIME! PLEASE DON'T KILL MEEE!**

**Kuromi: The last part sounded over exaggerated...**

**Kiyoko: Kuro, she's having a lot of stuff going on right now...**

**Killua: Ignore them. There's a poll on Stormy's profile so check it out.**

**Gon: Eh? I don't get it.**

**Leorio: It's nothing, kid.**

**Kurapika: Thanks for reading!**

**Everyone: R&amp;R and enjoy! Bye!**

_**~stormy003**_


	12. Chapter 11

"Once again, good job to you all. The present forty-two participants here have passed the second exam I've proposed. You are all scheduled to arrive at your next destination at eight in the morning," Menchi announced.

"The tension in the ship… It's mighty fine! I love it! They all sure are taking this seriously," Netero said, stroking his beard. "Oh! Allow me to introduce myself properly! I am Netero, the chairman of the Hunter Exam Selection Committee for the year."

"And I'm his secretary, Beans! Netero-sama, we have to get back to the meeting we left!" Beans exclaimed as he read his watch.

"That's not important! Someone else can fill in my spot, I'm not heading back!" the old man said stubbornly.

Menchi began to frown at their side conversation as she waited for the two to finish.

"But..!"

"It can't be helped! We just had an unexpected problem in the middle of that meeting! If there is anything else here, I should be around to help resolve it. That also means that I'm going to hang around these guys!"

"B-but you're the president!"

Menchi cleared her throat irritably, interrupting Netero and Beans' conversation and catching their attention once again.

"Ahem… I originally planned to make my appearance during the last and final phase, but since I'm here already…"

"There's dinner waiting in the dining hall for you all," Beans announced. "You are also welcome to rest yourselves."

"Until the next phase, actually, meeting, you all have break time. That will be all. Meeting closed!" Menchi said, everyone beginning to separate from each other.

"She said it's free time, Killua!" Gon said happily.

"Yeah. Hey, Gon, let's go explore this airship!" Killua suggested as he stretched his arms out in front of him.

"Okay!"

"Don't disturb anyone's work while you explore, guys," Kiyoko said, smiling on one half of her face and a frown on the other to indicate Kuromi's presence.

"We won't," Killua said, smiling mischievously.

"This atmosphere when everything is happening at once, it's nice..!" Netero said.

Beans sighed at the old man and slumped to the floor as Gon, Killua, Leorio, Kiyoko, and Kurapika set the bags down and rested. Kurapika turned around and leaned against the wall as he slid to the floor exhaustedly.

"Ne, Kurapika? You're going to explore the airship with us, right?" Gon asked energetically.

Nope, I'll pass on that offer," the boy responded.

"Oh…. How about you, Leorio? Do you want to come explore with us?" the young boy asked, looking over to the man.

Killua stared at Kiyoko curiously, then to Kuromi, and back, the girl just staring back nervously and bothered.

"I'll pass too…." he answered as the two boys closed their eyes. "I'm too tired to do anything, so ask Kiyoko or just go with each other."

"Kiyoko?" Gon asked.

"I would…. But I'm still not feeling too well," the girl replied, sitting down and patting Gon's face. "Have fun looking around. You can tell us what's up later."

"Hm, okay!" Gon exclaimed, running over to Killua. "We'll be going then!"

The two young boys ran off and out of the crowded room, still filled with energy surprisingly.

'What an energetic bunch…' Leorio said, resting his arms on his knees.

'You can say that again,' Kurapika sighed.

'You think?' Kuromi muttered, going back to her spiritual state.

'I just want to sleep,' Leorio continued to complain.

"Me too… It's been a terribly long day…" Kurapika said. "I need to rest when I get the chance to…"

"They better not get into trouble.." Kiyoko said, slowly falling to the side.

"I still have a concern about this exam.." the boy said, peeking with an eye and grabbing onto Kiyoko before she hit the floor.

"Hmm? What is it?" Leorio asked.

"The number of phases remaining. How many phases are there for us to go through left?"

'Good question….' Kiyoko mumbled, snuggling up to the boy unconsciously.

"Oh, they never said anything about that, haven't they?" Leorio asked, leaning his head against the wall.

"On an average there should be at least five to six phases," Tonpa said, walking in front of the group in a smug manner.

'Oh jeez, it's him…' Kuromi said.

'Ignore him.. He bothers me too…' Kiyoko whispered as everyone looked up to see the man.

"That means we have at least three of four more phases to go through," Leorio said.

"That adds up the reason of why we all should rest," Kurapika said.

"You bunch should be careful."

"Hm?" Leorio hummed.

"They said we'll arrive at our destination. What we don't know is that this place and this very moment might be the third phase, you know? Also that meeting the woman said might not take place at eight in the morning and we might not be contacted at eight."

The teens stared at the man uninterestedly, Kiyoko blocking out the words that were coming out of his mouth.

"Are you serious?" Leorio asked, wanting to fall asleep.

"That does kind of make sense…" Kurapika yawned.

"You guys may discover that this exam has already ended while you were asleep. All I'm telling you is that to pass this exam, you shouldn't let your guard down or even sleep. If you're planning to make it to the next phase, try not to relax too much."

"You're kidding me.. Well thanks for the advice," Leorio said, stretching his arms.

"We'll keep that in mind," Kurapika added.

"Let's do our best!" the man said excusing himself.

The three exchanged boring looks to each other as the man walked away and smirked to himself, glancing behind him excitedly.

"I doubt this is even the third phase," Kiyoko concluded, going to sleep.

'She's right.. There is no way that the phase would be held on this ship. If that was their intention, they wouldn't tell us to do whatever we please or go eat.. Instead, they would've said to stand by.' the boy thought.

Kurapika felt weight increasing on his body and then looked over to the girl next to him, smiling a little.

"Ah. She's asleep on me," Kurapika said lazily, taking off his tabard and draping it over the girl and himself. "I'm going to sleep too- Huh?"

Leorio was already fast asleep, snoring somewhat loudly and drooling excessively. Kurapika smiled at the man and then pulled the tabard up closer to Kiyoko's neck carefully.

'Kurapika….' the girl began to mutter, the tip of her hair beginning to dye red.

'Hm?' the boy hummed, not noticing the change.

Kuromi opened her eyes and revealed her deep red eyes to the boy who remained calm.

'Do you not feel tired?' Kurapika asked, looking away to yawn.

'No, I am tired, but I have a question,' the girl said seriously.

The boy sighed and rubbed his neck wearily, looking back at the alternated girl.

'Shoot. What is it?' the boy said.

'What is Kiyo to you?'

The Kurta remained quiet a little as he registered the question into his tired brain slowly.

'… Kiyoko?' he finally asked.

Kuromi frowned and then nodded at the boy lightly, not wanting to wake up Kiyoko's slumber.

'She's a friend. Why?'

'You know I can also tell whether you are hiding or lying about something?' Kuromi said, frowning a little.

'I'm aware.'

'Then tell me. What are you thinking? What's your real opinion on her? Or us in general?'

'Do I have to answer you?' the boy asked, closing his eyes.

Kuromi pinched the side of Kurapika's waist, making him wince at the feeling. Too bad he couldn't slap her hand away because he'd wake up Kiyoko if he tried.

'Okay, okay! I'll answer. Now, let go! One, you're troubling. Two, you bother the hell out of me sometimes, no most times really. Three, you're evil,' the boy spilled. 'I still have an instinct to follow and trust you though not because Kiyoko is with you. I have no other explanation.'

Kuromi was still frowning, but was clearly bothered by the boy's silent confession.

'Okay, next. On to Kiyoko.'

'Total opposite of you. Enough?'

'You're still hiding something.'

Kurapika frowned as a light blush slowly tinted his face.

'Curse their ability...' the boy thought. 'Just leave it at that.'

'No. I need to know to keep her away from certain people like, I don't know, you? She's way too nice to people like you, the guy who threw a fork stabbed spider at us,' the girl hissed.

'I didn't know, I didn't even see her until you guys left!'

'Spill it!'

'She's nice, alright? A nice girl, but she's so fragile. It just gives me a feeling that I need to protect her more than I need to protect the others working with us.'

'... That's not your real answer. I give up.. I'm sleeping before I wake her up from talking to you,' the girl said, reverting back.

Kiyoko was still sound asleep after being secretly taken over by Kuromi much to Kurapika's relief.

'What's up with her today?' he thought, blushing awkwardly.

The boy rubbed his eyes then leaned his head onto Kiyoko's and went to sleep after the bothersome conversation with Kuromi.

'He likes her doesn't he…? I'm not going to let that happen..' Kuromi muttered herself to sleep. 'I'll kill him before he gets to her.'

* * *

"Where do you want to go first?" Gon asked Killua.

"The cockpit, of course! Always the cockpit first!" Killuea replied as the boys ran down the hall on the ship.

"Oh yeah!" Gon said as Killua slowly came to a stop.

"Is something the matter, Killua?"

".. No. It's nothing," he replied, running towards Gon.

When the boys arrived to the cockpit, Killua excitedly opened the door to the room, ignoring the 'Do Not Enter' sign.

"Isn't this cool?" the boy asked, showing Gon the room.

"But it said, 'Do Not Enter'…" Gon pointed out guiltily.

"That is why this is called 'exploring'," Killua said, welcoming himself in.

"Killua!"

Gon hesitantly took a step into the technical room, but was soon intrigued by the view and surroundings.

"The wind is calm and the visibility is good, but the scariest thing about a night similar to this is drowsiness. If you have time, go grab me some tea," the pilot requested, unaware of them.

"Don't be lazy, go get your tea yourself," Killua said bluntly.

The man flinched and then took a look back behind him quickly to see the two troubling boys standing there.

"But… If you let us pilot this ship, I'll be able to make a deal with you and get you your tea," the boy bribed, nonchalantly giving a smile as Gon nervously grinned.

The two were soon thrown out of the cockpit by the man, the door slamming closed right after. Both boys were on their back in pain, Gon being upside down and against a wall. Killua immediately propped up himself in anger, a visible frown on his face, as he began to yell at the closed door furiously.

"LOUSY BUM! LOCK THE DAMN DOOR IF YOU DON'T WANT ANYONE TO ENTER!"

The boy immediately changed his face expression into curiosity when he heard Gon sobbing and muttering to himself in a corner by a plant.

'I-I got in trouble..'

".. Let's go to the next place…" Killua suggested uncomfortably as he got himself back up to his feet.

The boys went to the lower level on the airship to check out more things located in the dark floor, a giant vehicle being one thing they discovered and a small dark bathroom being another. The two energetic kids continued to run around the floating ship, causing trouble to several workers present. They even entered the kitchen and took a drum stick for their liking, also getting kicked out by the cook.

"Hey, kids! Get out of the kitchen and eat in the dining hall!" the cook exclaimed, dropping them out.

* * *

Killua and Gon finally stopped their exploration on the airship and sat down in a random and nearly empty hallway, Killua having the same bored expression as before, eating his food casually.

"There weren't any places that were fun or interesting," he complained.

"Really?" Gon asked, smiling at the boy. "I thought it was pretty fun. Hm..? Wow, Killua, look, look!"

"What?"

Gon was now facing the window, his eyes fixed on something outside, as Killua jumped at the surprise outburst. Killua looked out behind him curiously to see shimmering land slowly revealing from the clouds below the airship.

"Wow, awesome!" Gon exclaimed. "It looks like jewelry and ornaments spread out around the area!"

"Have you never seen a night view before, Gon?" the boy next to him asked.

"Well, when the Kirikos carried us to the exam hall at night, there wasn't that much light out," Gon explained, looking over to Killua. "How about you, Killua?"

"My family owns a plane, so I've seen a view like this millions of times already."

"Damn you.." the young boy said, still fixated to the view.

"Well, we need a plane to get back home, of course. Our house is located on a giant mountain."

"Wait, what?" Gon said, looking over to Killua.

"We also have about…. Two hundred workers."

"…. Your family is rich, Killua.. Where are your parents?"

"Hmmm, they're both alive. Probably."

"What do your parents do?"

"Assassins," the boy replied straight forwardly. "They're assassins."

"Ehh? Both of them?" Gon asked curiously.

Killua looked over to face Gon for a brief second and then began to laugh loudly and lively.

"That's your first reaction? You're funny, Gon! You're the first to ask me something like that in such a serious way! You really are a riot!"

"But is it true? You're telling the truth, right?" Gon asked, still unfazed.

"What makes- Actually, how do you know that?" Killua asked, his seriousness coming back.

"I sort of just know..

"That's weird.." Killua responded. "People see me as endearing because no one knows whether I'm being serious or not. That's just something intriguing about me."

"Endearing..?" Gon repeated.

"I come from a family filled with assasins; all of the family members are assassins. We're willing to kill anyone without a second though if we get the money," Killua began to explain. "And of course, they really have high hopes for me.. that I will become a good assassin. I've been learning how to kill people ever since I was a child. Thing is, I don't like to live a life where somebody else decides what I should do without my own opinion or voice. I can't stand it!"

The boy turned around to face Gon once again with an annoyed and disgusted face expression, pointing at himself.

"When I told them, "I'm going to pick my own future for myself." they all snapped! Threw a fit and got pissed at me! My mom even gave me a lecture, at the same time, had tears streaming down her face about how much potential I have to be a top class assassin! Don't you think they're horrible parents or what?" Killua ranted, leaning back onto his hand as Gon smiled and chuckled nervously. "It's natural that someone would become a delinquent child after that! It soon became a fight right after, me stabbing my mother's face, beating up brother, and then leaving the house. They're all probably looking for me or even out for blood right now."

The boy turned back to Gon once again with a bright mischievous smile his face and his index finger and thumb under his chin as Gon slightly leaned back and cringed.

"But if they do come and find me, I'll beat the crap out of them again. If I do become a hunter, I'll start my job by capturing my family! I think I'll be able to sell them at a high price!" the boy said, fantasizing the event.

"… Killua.. You're amazing.." Gon suddenly said. "You're amazing, Killua. I never had a thought of surpassing my dad."

"I see… I guess capturing him does mean I'm trying to surpass him and his ability."

"Yeah, you'll be able to do it!"

"That's not convincing at all! You know nothing of him!"

"But he is your dad, right? I just sort of know!" Gon repeated from before.

"Your 'sort of know' statement again?" Killua asked. "That's never going to work in the real world!"

"Why? Who cares?"

"Whatever, let's just go get some tea…"

Killua suddenly sensed someone 'spying' near the two and took off to the corner the presence was coming from.

"Killua?" Gon called, feeling the same presence the assassin felt.

The boy reached to the corner only to see nothing but a potted plant next to him, clicking his tongue disappointingly.

"Killua, what's wrong? … Killua?" the boy in green asked, still unsure whether what he felt was suspicious.

"Nothing.." the assassin replied, smiling at his friend.

"Is something the matter?" Netero asked as he approached the boys.

The two kids turned around to face the old man as Gon looked at him curiously and Killua glared.

"Netero-san…" Gon said. "Did you see anyone coming from that side?"

"No, not at all," the old man replied, shaking his head.

"…. You're pretty fast for your age, old man.." Killua noted.

"That little trick? I barely even moved!"

The old man and the assassin continued to stare at each other silently as tension grew between them, Gon looking at the two curiously.

"What do you want?" Killua asked harshly, sharpening his gaze. "You don't have to do anything until we get to the last phase, correct?"

"There's no need to be malicious around me. I'm just bored and decided to look for some companions," Netero replied. "Oh, I wanted to ask the two of you something. Are there any thoughts about your first attempt in this exam?"

"Yeah! It's really fun!" Gon answered.

"I'm disappointed.." Killua said. "I expected this exam to be far more grueling than this. I'm assuming the third phase will be more.. compelling?"

"Well…. I can't say.. I wouldn't know anything about that."

"Let's go, Gon…" Killua said, walking away.

"Now just wait a moment! Would you like to play a game with me?" Netero asked.

"A game?" Gon repeated, Killua slowly turning around to look.

"If you can defeat me in this game, I'll allow you two to become hunters without taking the rest of this exam!"

'... How impetuous…' the boys muttered, looking at each other.

"Well? How about it? Are you afraid that you can't beat me?"

* * *

Snoring could be heard next to the three teens as they began to stir and wake up from the noise, a deep frown forming on their faces. Kurapika and Leorio covered up their ears irritably as Kiyoko buried her face into Kurapika's body and covered her head with the boy's tabard.

'God damn it, Tonpa, go away!' Kuromi growled. 'Why is he back here?!'

"Can we move to a different corner?" Leorio asked, wiping his drool away with his blazer around his waist before standing up and picking up Kiyoko.

"Please…. He's annoying…!" the girl said, completely irked by the loud noise.

Kurapika stood up abruptly and grabbed all their belongings quickly as Leorio sped walked over to a different unoccupied area to rest. The snoring from Tonpa was still audible, but it wasn't as loud as before, Leorio and Kurapika setting Kiyoko and their bags down onto the floor.

"And he tells us to keep our guard up… Look at him.." Kurapika said vexingly, plopping back down onto the floor.

"My brain is still rattling…." Leorio complained, sitting down lazily.

'You were snoring too, Four-Eyes!' Kuromi exclaimed.

Kiyoko popped her head out from underneath the Kurta's tabard with a drowsy expression on her face, turning her head to where the pudgy man was sleeping and covering her head again.

'I can't sleep…' the girl complained through the cloth.

Kurapika pat the girl's head through his tabard and pulled her closer.

"Neither can we.. I'm pretty sure we're wide awake now," the boy answered.

* * *

**Stormy: Finally updated! Sorry!**

**Kiyoko: I want to sleep...**

**Kuromi: MAY I MURDER HIM?!**

**Kurapika: No.. You're going to be disqualified if you do.**

**Leorio: He's snoring too loud!**

**Kuromi: Said the one who SNORED JUST AS LOUD!**

**Leorio: I did not snore nor do I snore!**

**Kurapika: Actually, you do.**

**Leorio: -blushes and looks away-**

**Gon: Poll on Stormy's profile!**

**Killua: Tomorrow is New Year right? Happy (Early) New Year!**

**Stormy: Hope you enjoy!**

**Everyone: R&amp;R bye!**

_**~stormy003**_


	13. Chapter 12

**WARNING: THE FOLLOWING CHAPTER MAY CONTAIN CUTENESS IN IT THAT IS TOO MUCH FOR YOU TO HANDLE. EITHER READ, READ AND SQUEAL, READ AND FAINT, OR JUST DON'T READ AT ALL! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED... -dun dun dunnnnnnn...!- NOW LET'S GET ON WITH THE STORY! XD**

* * *

"Since we can't sleep because of you know who, want to go find those two?" Kurapika asked, standing back up after at least an hour plus had past.

"Sure, why not," Leorio said.

"I'll sit here a bit longer in case they come back. If not, I'll come find you if you take too long," Kiyoko replied, smiling at the two boys.

"Alright, we'll be back once we find them," Kurapika said, turning to leave.

"We'll be going now," Leorio said, waving to the girl.

The girl nodded with a bright look on her face until she noticed the tabard still in her possession.

"Oh, wait, Kurapika-kun!" Kiyoko called, blushing in embarrassment.

"Hm?" the boy hummed, turning back to look at the red faced girl.

"Y-your, umm, tabard.. I should return it.." the girl said, holding out the cloth.

"Y-you don't want it?" the boy asked awkwardly, walking back to retrieve the tabard. "I mean, to keep yourself warm and stuff.."

"T-thanks, but it's alright. I'm fine!" she responded.

Kuromi quickly took over half of Kiyoko's body and shot a deadly glare at Kurapika who only ignored her presence.

"Kuro, is everything alright?" Kiyoko asked, aware of the dangerous killing intent she held for the boy.

"Great. Everything is just great…" the girl replied to herself.

'Are you sure? You seem a lot more hostile than ever..' Kiyoko thought.

"Thank you for returning my tabard, Kiyoko, I'll be going now," Kurapika said, smiling to the girl once again and leaving.

"Okay. See you both later," the genial girl answered.

"Go. Away," Kuromi hissed irritably. "I would be cursing at you right now, but then I'd be lectured for no reason!"

"What's up with you today..? You're clearly not okay…" Kiyoko said.

"I. Am. Fine….!"

"No, you aren't. And I should know that," Kiyoko said. "Either tell me what's wrong or I'll read your thoughts."

"None. I choose none," Kuromi argued.

"You're so stubborn…" the girl said, scanning through her divided mind.

Apparently, she couldn't find an answer to Kuromi's hostility and the cause for her being a lot more rebellious than usual, the thought being blurred up.

"Seriously.. Uncover it, Kuro."

"No."

"People are going to think I'm crazy talking to myself…."

"So what? Don't ask then!"

"I will found out sooner or later.."

"Then quit asking!" Kuromi exclaimed, reverting back to her mental state.

A few contestants looked over at the girl with an uncomfortable expression, clearly thinking that she was a mental person who's just passing by in the exam. Kiyoko blushed and looked down onto her lap nervously to avoid eye contact from everyone else as they returned their attention to their own business.

'I hate you..' Kiyoko thought as she sighed.

'Great.'

* * *

A few more hours later, Kiyoko decided to walk around the airship and look for the others just like she said she would after taking so long.

'I wonder where they all are..' the girl thought.

Her answer was soon answered when she spotted Menchi in a gold towel throwing knifes at Leorio and Kurapika furiously. Leorio was screaming and ran passed the girl as Kurapika turned a corner and waited there. A butcher knife flew passed Kiyoko's face an inch away, the girl just standing there and blinking curiously at the scene. Menchi dashed passed her a second later and went after Leorio as Kurapika walked over to where Kiyoko stood, completely lost.

"… What happened just now?"

"I'll explain.. Let's just go after Leorio while I retell this… Adventurous tale of Leorio and Kurapika," the Kurta joked, the girl giggling at his remark in response.

The two teens began to take their time following the screaming teen and enraged examiner as Kurapika told Kiyoko what happened and why they were being chased.

"We wanted to talk, or to be exact, ask the examiner about the next phase and how many more phases we need to put up with you see. Apparently, Menchi-san didn't answer when Leorio knocked and pounded at her door. He decided to open the door and peek inside to find her…"

"And found her wrapped up in a towel?" Kiyoko finished.

"Yeah…. So now she's hunting us down, but I wonder if she took my excuse," Kurapika answered.

"Your excuse? I think I already know what it is.." Kiyoko said, sweat dropping a bit.

Menchi stomped past the two teens as she gripped on her knife tightly and ignored the two.

"Hello, Menchi-san.." the girl suddenly greeted.

The woman stopped in her track and looked at the girl with a bright smile on her face, clearly hiding her frustration with the boys.

"Hello! Are you enjoying this exam so far?" Menchi replied.

'I don't know how to reply to that…' Kiyoko thought hesitantly. "Y-yeah..!"

"That's good! I hope you pass in the upcoming phases. Good luck!" the woman said, waving at Kiyoko and walking away.

"Well, that was awkward…" Kurapika suddenly said.

"It's rude not to greet her though.." the girl said, the two continuing to walk.

"I understand."

Kuromi suddenly took over half of Kiyoko's body and grabbed her staff, Kurapika noticing her actions and blocking it with his twin bokken swords. Kuromi clicked her tongue disgustedly as Kiyoko forcefully reverted herself back.

"Sorry, Kurapika-kun.. I really don't know what's gotten into her today.." Kiyoko apologized, frowning at herself as she decreased the staff and tucked it back to the ribbon on her waist.

'I think I know what's wrong. It's probably that discussion we had while you were asleep,' the boy thought, hiding his nunchaku. "No, it's fine. I think I'm getting use to it."

The two suddenly came across a panting and sulking Leorio as he checked his face on one of the gigantic windows.

"Looks like we found him," Kiyoko said, smiling at the boy.

"… Damn it.. My handsome face is ruined…" the man said out loud, touching the scratches.

"I don't think it changed at all," Kurapika said, walking closer to the man with Kiyoko.

"... WHAT IS UP WITH YOU!? WHY ARE YOU LOOKING SO UNSCATHED!?" Leorio exclaimed, pointing at the Kurta.

Leorio walked up to the boy and growled at him as he got up to Kurapika's face, silence filling between them.

'I don't get these two… One moment they're fine, the next one of them is angry,' Kiyoko thought awkwardly.

'Maybe they are just retarded?'

"…. Maybe it's because of how I look?" the boy asked, turning away confusedly as he scratched his cheek.

"YOU LITTLE!"

"Now, now!" Kiyoko said nervously.

"Gon?" Kurapika suddenly asked.

"Eh?" Kiyoko and Leorio said confusedly.

The two looked over to where the boy was staring at and saw Gon outside the ship with his fishing rod in hand.

"Is that..?" Leorio asked.

"Gon…" Kurapika repeated.

"Let's go check what's going on," Kiyoko said, rushing over to look.

Leorio and Kurapika nodded at each other and followed suit, running just as quick to the big window. The young boy was running around and attacking Netero as Killua sat on the sidelines, not bothering to join the game Netero proposed to them both.

"He looks really… excited and confident…" Kiyoko pointed out, Kuromi huffing in response.

Netero made a leap for it as Gon swung his fishing rod and caught him unstable, head butting him right after. The boy was now holding his head and wriggling on the floor in pain as Netero stared at him with interest. Gon stood back up and began to chase after the old man again, getting ready to head butt Netero's stomach once more. The boy quickly dashed over to Netero, the man jumping out of the way immediately, and nearly pummeled off the airship. Instead, he was hanging off the side, his fishing rod caught on the railing just in time.

"This boy.." Leorio said.

Kurapika patted Kiyoko's back and assured her that Gon was fine as Killua and Netero stared at nothing in shock. Gon swung himself back on board and kicked Netero's face swiftly; dashing after the ball the man was holding the entire time.

'I GOT IT!' he exclaimed excitedly.

'No, you don't!' Netero responded back, grabbing the ball before the young boy could. 'That was close..'

'You used your right hand and left leg just now, didn't you?' Gon asked happily.

"Err… yes?" Netero asked back.

"YEAH! I WON!" the boy responded, falling onto his back tiredly.

Killua stood up walk up to the boy on the ground as he called out to him.

'Gon!'

'Killua! Did you see? I made him use his left leg and right hand…..' Gon said, drifting off to sleep.

Killua only smiled and let out an amused chuckle as he propped the boy's arm around his shoulders and supported him.

The other three from inside the airship headed outside to see what was going on as Leorio suddenly asked, "What the heck was he doing?"

"No clue. But I can only say one thing. Whatever he just accomplished, he's satisfied with it," Kurapika replied.

"You got that right…" Leorio muttered.

"We should get him back inside before he gets sick," Kiyoko said, smiling at the two young boys.

"Oh well… Captain, our flight status please?" Netero asked as he walked away.

The group was now bringing in the sleeping boy back into the airship away from the cold outdoor air as the president received an answer.

"I see… I apologize for interrupting this flight, but may I ask you to fly a bit slower?"

* * *

"Where did your belongings go?" Killua asked curiously.

"We 'migrated' to a different area, if you know what I mean, Fuzz Ball," Kuromi said, taking over a half of Kiyoko's body and glaring at Kurapika.

"F-Fuzz Ball?" the boy asked irritably, his eye twitching at the nickname.

Kiyoko sighed and ignored Kuromi, leaving her be.

"What is he doing?" Leorio asked uncomfortably, pointing at a certain man.

That man turned out to be Tonpa. He was up from sleeping and near the group's possessions looking around for them and chuckling to himself mischievously as everyone just stared, completely antagonized. The man looked over and made eye contact with them all right after, his face dropping to fear, and then slid away and out of sight nervously.

"….. Weirdo.." Kuromi and Killua said.

* * *

The airship finally landed on their next destination in the morning, just not at the assigned time.

"I apologize for the long wait. The airship has now landed on its destination," a voice announced.

The participants looked out the windows quickly before they all headed outside to take a better look.

"Wow! Is this where we are continuing the exam?" Gon asked excitedly.

"What is this place?"

"There's nothing here…"

"Ahem. I hope you all enjoyed your flight. The top of Trick Tower is your next location for the Third Exam! Now for the details…. The rules for this test are simple. In fact, there is only one! ….Get off this tower ALIVE!" Beans instructed. "Reach the tower's base within seventy-two hours! And with that, let's begin! I will pray for your success!"

'No way..' Leorio whispered as everyone looked at each other.

'Best of luck everyone!' Beans' voice rang from the departed ship.

Gon and the others took a quick look off the tower to see how high it was from the ground after the ship disappeared.

"Are we supposed to climb off this place?" Leorio asked.

"That would be suicide," Killua said.

'I'm sure there would be some idiot who's willing to do it though,' Kuromi muttered.

"Maybe its suicide for a normal person," a man said confidently.

'There's one,' Kurapika said back.

"We'll be finding a way to get off then," Kuromi said, making Kiyoko separate from the group.

"He's going to die in a few seconds and you know that right?" Kiyoko asked herself.

"Which is why we are leaving," the alternated half said. "We don't have time to waste watching some person go suicidal."

"Could've told- THEM!" Kiyoko exclaimed, falling through the floor out of the blue.

"AHHHH! WHAT THE HECK IS THIS?!" the girl or girls if you want to say exclaimed.

Kiyoko and Kuromi landed on their bottom on the hard cold floor after a second later, slowly opening their eyes to adjust to the dark room.

'Oww…' Kiyoko winced. "Kuro.. Where are we?"

"Don't ask me… But my guess? Inside the tower itself."

Kiyoko looked around the dark room as she scanned if there were any objects to grab. It was too dark to see anything on the downside.

"Turn into a lynith?" Kuromi asked.

"No, I feel like…. We're being watched…" the girl replied alerted.

'Good senses I must say!' a male voice commented.

Kiyoko jumped while Kuromi reverted back to hide herself from the mystery person.

"Ummm, who are you?" the girl asked, smiling awkwardly as she looked around for the person.

'You'll find out sooner or later.. But as for now, I am the examiner of the third phase. You may start the phase now, so best of luck!'

'You're kidding me. Kiyoko switch back to me quickly. I'll look for the way out,' Kuromi said.

"Well you have better eyesight than I do in the dark…" the girl replied as she did was she was asked.

Kuromi quickly scanned the room once again and saw a stopwatch near her right. Once the girl grabbed the object and slipped it onto her wrist, the torches that hung up in the room suddenly flashed and lit up, blinding the girl immediately.

'Your turn, Kiyo. I hate it when people turn on the lights after being in the dark for so long..' the girl growled as she switch positions. 'I can see colors from here on out…'

"If you say so.."

The girl noticed that the entire place was empty with a locked up door to indicate the way out. Kiyoko walked over to the closed door and looked at it suspiciously then at her wrist. She held out the stopwatch to the door and triggered a trap that was built in the metal door to pierce the person who triggered it, dodging it before she was hit.

"I think I understand what to do now… This place is filled with traps and this watch seems to trigger them if I motion it to a specific spot."

Those spots Kiyoko mentioned to Kuromi were the lighter colored areas drilled on the metal door. That section seemed to blend in pretty well and acted like a sensor to trigger traps when the stopwatch is identified. The girl stood back up as the traps returned and deactivated.

"I believe this is where I open the door.." the girl said, lightly tapping the watch on a blended darker area.

The door came loose and cracked open for the girl to enter through after being tapped.

"This is going to be a long phase…" the girl said, frowning at the only path she could take.

The sides of the path were pitfalls so if she was to slip and fall, she'd fall into a bottomless pit. Not too dangerous looking, but then again, there were traps hidden in the route she fell in.

'Are you going to make a run for it?' Kuromi asked.

"Yes, yes I am. I can't see the triggers anywhere… Except the floor of course…"

'Lynith or no?'

'Not yet, Kuro. I don't think we will need it just yet,' Kiyoko muttered as she pulled out her staff and extended it.

'Don't kill yourself,' Kuromi muttered.

"Yeah, right.. Okay, let's go!"

* * *

"Since we can't go down the side of the tower, how are we going to get off?" Leorio asked, looking around the area.

The attendees were all tapping on the ground and walking around to find an opening, Gon and Killua joining in the search. The two older boys from the group began to walk around until Kurapika came to an abrupt stop.

"Hm? What's up?" Leorio asked.

"There're fewer participants present. Kiyoko and Kuromi being one of them," the boy replied, scanning the area.

"Wait, what?"

"I counted twenty-three present bodies here, which tells us that at least nearly half of the applicants have found an exit."

"You're kidding me… How did they do it and when?" Leorio asked with disbelief.

"It must mean that there are some hidden exits that'll lead us into the tower and to the exit. Kiyoko must have found one by accident if she never informed us about it."

"Kurapika! Leorio!" Gon called, waving at the two.

"What is it, Gon?" Kurapika replied as they jogged over quickly.

"Look, look! I found a hidden door!" the boy said, pushing down on the ground.

* * *

"Ha… ha…. ha….. How did I manage to survive that…?" Kiyoko panted, looking back at the crumbled path and arrow stabbed walls.

'More like how ARE you going to survive this place?'

"I-I'll manage…" Kiyoko answered nervously, lifting up her hand that bears the watch.

Arrows suddenly shot out the door, Kiyoko reacting quickly and swing her staff to protect herself.

"How did I forget about that..?" the girl asked anxiously as the trap deactivated.

'I'll take over before you kill us both,' Kuromi said, switching spots again and tapping the stopwatch on the shaded area.

The door reacted the same way as the last, allowing the girl to enter to the next room that looked exactly the same as the one they just passed.

"Is this entire place an illusion or something? Or is this just a coincidence…?" Kuromi asked.

'I don't know, but be careful…'

Kuromi nodded and then took a step onto the path before her. The area she stepped on suddenly became transparent and vanished, appearing at least 2 feet away from her. She immediately leaped over to the next block that connected to the other areas that made the straight path across the room. Of course that path vanished also and appeared to a different location away from her.

"What the hell is this?!" Kuromi exclaimed, triggering another trap without knowing it.

'Incoming, Kuro! INCOMING! MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!' Kiyoko screamed.

Kuromi looked over to where wind noises were audible and jumped around from block to block to dodge the new trap.

"I hate moving blocks! MAINLY ONES THAT DISAPPEAR RANDOMLY!" the girl exclaimed, dodging a swinging blade that scratched at the floor dangerously.

A blade flew a centimeter away from her, cutting off a little of her hair from being too close.

"We seriously need to get to the other side quickly…. BUT THE BLOCKS KEEP APPEARING SOMEWHERE ELSE! AND NOW THERE'RE SWINGING BLADES THAT EITHER SLOWS US DOWN OR MAKE US RETRACE OUR STEPS!" Kuromi yelled angrily as she continued to dodge and jump around.

'I wonder if the others are alright…'

"WORRY ABOUT THEM LATER! YOU NEED TO WORRY ABOUT US RIGHT NOW!"

'Whatever... Hey have you noticed something?' Kiyoko asked.

"Notice what? DOES IT LOOK LIKE I DID?!"

'The walls haven't been touched by the blades. Do you think there's another pathway there?'

"Oh great. Rock climbing. Yeah, yeah, I'll check."

* * *

It took a while to get back to the beginning safely as the blades continued to swing around like a pendulum and the blocks taunted both Kiyoko and Kuromi.

".. Oh it looks like your right, Kiyo.. The walls have grip on it," Kuromi pointed out. "I also see triggers on the wall though..."

The girl swung her wrist in front of one of the triggers and had a medium sized rock fall quickly down to the pit.

"Yeah... Not going to happen.." the two said in unison.

'We'll be stuck leaping around in circles if we don't do anything about this...' Kuromi muttered. "Do you think there are other triggers in this place?"

"Maybe, go ahead and check," Kiyoko prompted.

Kuromi complied and began to walk around carefully, scanning the walls and floor she was able to scan.

'Oh? There's a safe trigger here on the wall..' Kuromi thought, as she looked around for trap switches. 'And it's safe to say that it won't kill me if I reach out to it.'

Kuromi tapped the area with the stopwatch and watched the blades stop swinging, the teleporting blocks creating a different path away from the blades.

"This place... kills..." Kuromi complained, sighing in relief and running off to the next room.

'You can say that again..'

* * *

**Stormy: Guys... Bad news. I got sick. That also means 1 month hiatus. D:**

**Kiyoko: School starts tomorrow too so...**

**Kuromi: Sucks for her -shrugs-**

**Stormy: That warning, by the way, was a joke. xD I actually laughed when I saw your review, SoulXHunter, so I was like 'Why the heck not?' So there you have it! I'm really not going to put that in every chapter though, HAHA. I'm glad you were hyped for the last update, Liz! It made me knowing that you enjoy reading my story! I'll probably sit here and sleep and read all of the wonderful reviews I get from you all when I'm bedridden for another month, they just make me feel better C': **

**Kurapika: School is tomorrow so sleep.**

**Stormy: What? B-but it's 8:03 PM!**

**Leorio: You're sick.**

**Killua: No use arguing..**

**Gon: Bed time story?**

**Stormy: N-no thanks, Gon.. I'll just.. sleep now..**

**Everyone: THANKS FOR READING AND STUFF! R&amp;R AND ENJOY UNTIL I GET BACK(AGAIN)! SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE! Don't forget the poll...**

**~stormy003**


	14. Chapter 13

Kuromi looked around the empty room as she step through the doorway nonchalantly, feeling a bit doubtful.

"Do you think we went the wrong way? There isn't another door here..." the girl asked.

'Hmmm, if you think about it, there were no other doors in the last rooms,' Kiyoko recalled. 'We must have went the right way... If not, what if there was or is a door up on the ceiling?'

The negative girl taking over the body looked up to check if the assumption of her other self was correct, but to much of her dismay, she was wrong this time around.

"Nothing.. If this room is filled with plenty of traps, then we're dead," Kuromi said, looking around once more with a frown. "I see... at least five triggers in here. They haven't identified the stop watch just yet, so we're lucky."

Kuromi sneaked over to an empty wall where none of the triggers could sense the stopwatch on her wrist and then tried kicking that same wall she approached to, attacking it constantly.

"I-it's.. not... working!" she grunted every time she attacked it. "Do you think we have to trigger the traps to get out of here? That's just crazy.."

As Kuromi continued to attack, the dirt on the wall slightly crumbled and dusted away, revealing dark characters on the supposed empty wall.

'Wait.. I see something out in front of us. ...Quit attacking the wall already, you're going to get us both injured!' Kiyoko said.

Kuromi abide Kiyoko and completely stopped hitting the wall, slumping to the ground disappointingly and looking at her bruised and scratched up knuckles.

'Okay, so can you brush the area you were releasing anger out to with your hand?'

"Yeah, yeah... More like looking for an escaped route to live," Kuromi said, standing up and brushing dirt off the wall with her palm.

Something that looked like instructions were uncovered from the dirt and carved into the area clearly. The two read the words carefully and then concluded that they did need to trigger trap panels, but just in a certain order or they will really be triggered and kill them.

_'IN ORDER TO LEAVE THIS ROOM, ONE MUST SOAR CAREFULLY TO WHERE THE SUN KISSES THE HORIZON IN THE AFTERNOON. IF NOT, YOUR WHITE WINGS WILL ONLY BURN TO CRISP AND DROP YOU WILL TO THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN. UPON THAT DROP, YOU WILL DROWN TO THE BOTTOM AND MEET THE UNDERWORLD OR YOU MAY REACH BACK UP TO THE SURFACE WHERE LAND, SKY, AND SEA MEET.'_

"What the heck?" the girls said, looking back at the triggers.

Clearly none of them had labels on them to help, but where they were all located slightly helped them.

'Go west,' Kiyoko suddenly said. "The sun sets in the west side of the world."

"Wish I didn't take over.." Kuromi muttered in frustration, walking carefully towards one of the triggers. "Other than that, you'd be doing all the work. Tch."

'This should be the first activator...' Kiyoko said as Kuromi came over to the panel, lifting her hand above her head and waving her wrist at it.

Nothing happened. Or so it seemed.

"... Let's just move onto the next.. If nothing happened, then that should be a good sign," Kuromi said cautiously.

'Alright, there are four more triggers, right? Where are they all located?'

Kuromi looked around the area once more and tried to locate all of remaining traps she saw earlier.

"One is on the floor in the middle of nowhere and I mean nowhere, another is on the wall behind us near the ground, and... There's two... their both on the same wall.. They aren't next to each other, but they are pretty close."

'Activate the one on the ground first and then the one near the ground. Do NOTHING for the last. I have no clue what to do for that one... Not yet..' Kiyoko instructed.

Kuromi nodded to herself and then walked over to the panel on the floor, passing the device on her wrist over it. She then headed over to the one that is located to where the floor and ground connected, repeating the action she did earlier to the last two triggers.

'Are you sure there are only five in this room?' Kiyoko asked again.

"I think so.." Kuromi answered, turning around.

'Look again carefully...'

"I am..." she grumbled angrily, scanning once again. "I still don't see anything.."

The girl walked back to where the instructions were and read it again several more times. She suddenly caught an extra carving that was still covered with dirt below the text, brushing it off. It was a picture of an arrow pointing to the left of it.

"..."

The girl read the tiny text next to the sign.

_'GOOD JOB NOT BEING AN IDIOT! THE LAST PANEL IS HERE. I JUST WANTED TO THROW YOU OFF WITH A RIDICULOUS RIDDLE.'_

"More like you want to kill us.."

Kuromi tried brushing the area being pointed at, but still saw nothing. Instead, she quickly swung her hand to where the arrow was indicating, making the wall collapse out of nowhere.

"Holy crap, what-" she exclaimed, cutting herself off as she shielded her body with her arms.

The floor continued to shake as the rubble in front of her kept crumbling down before her. When it finally stopped, Kuromi slowly removed her arms from her view and stared into another empty room that was identical to the one she stood in. The rooms were now connected, but really, there wasn't anything different about it.

"... Do you think we need to trigger more traps?"

'Please tell me we don't,' Kiyoko muttered.

* * *

"Is it just me or did this tower just move? I swear I felt the ground shake," Tonpa said anxiously.

"I think you're just going crazy. I sure didn't feel anything..." Leorio said in a deadpan tone. "Probably your own weight making you feel that way."

Tonpa growled at Leorio and gave him a sharp glare.

"Me going crazy? Yeah right... I'm sure it happened!" he exclaimed. "It just made my skin crawl from anxiety and a cold shiver travel through my spine!"

"Do you mean because of this?" Gon asked innocently, pointing at Killua's hand.

Killua was smirking at Tonpa as he held the dark multiple legged creature up close to his face, making him go pale.

"It must have been this..." the boy said mischievously.

"Get that away from me.." he gasped.

Killua just shrugged and threw it to the other side of the room, watching it scurry away in fear.

"Just what is this place?" Kurapika suddenly asked, looking at the room they were in.

By the looks of things, the area just had gaps from where they were standing, the ground in the middle of nowhere, and the side they needed to reach. There were a few cloaked figures standing on the other side, chuckling to themselves and watching the group of upcoming hunters enter.

"Well, well, well..." One of them said, making the group feel cautious.

* * *

"I don't see anything suspicious in here," Kuromi concluded after walking around the new room. "Yep, it's empty. For sure. Nooo doubt in my mind."

'How long have we been in here already? It feels like we've been running around dodging traps for hours...' Kiyoko suddenly asked.

Kuromi sighed and dropped onto the floor in a criss-cross position pushing down onto her knees with a frown on her face. The girl then looked at the watch on her wrist and noticed how much time had already passed with all the rooms they've been stuck in.

"Judging from the time we've wasted looking around one stupid room... and jumping around to dodge annoying pendulum axes, we spent.. let's just say the entire day."

'That's not good... and we don't know how much farther we need to go..' Kiyoko said a little worriedly. 'Do you think we'll make it on time?'

"Don't ask questions, just act, Kiyo," Kuromi stated with a hiss.

'Well, then. How do you suppose that we'll get out of here? Alive, of course.'

Just when Kiyoko finished asking her question the wall collapsed again. Kuromi blinked and looked around her to find the source of the collapsing wall next to her below her wrist.

"... I found it," the girl said, earning a facepalm.

Kuromi stood up and brushed off the dirt that caught onto her light colored clothes, then walked out through the hole created before her, meeting up with the person she wanted to avoid most unexpectedly.

'This must be a joke...' Kuromi and Kiyoko though, staring up at the person.

Hisoka was staring back at them with a dull yet curious looking face, slowly smiling like the joker he was.

"I'll just mind my own business then..." Kuromi said, heading to the area where the man just left.

"I came from that area just so you know. I'm sure you'll enjoy looking at the flowers as much as I would, but you'll just go right back to the beginning where I started," he stated, smiling at the girl fully.

Kuromi groaned uncomfortably and then turned back to head the other way where he was heading, keeping her distance from him as he just followed her carelessly.

'Flowers? I'm guess.. He means... Never mind..' Kiyoko said nervously.

* * *

Kuromi snuck a glance at the man who continued to follow her from behind, but kept walking forward as if she wasn't paying any attention to him. Hisoka's smile never left his face, which slightly creep both Kiyoko and her out, but in reality, he was secretly studying her for some odd reason. It's been passed half an hour and they were still going at it.

"You're not really you, are you?" he suddenly asked.

Kuromi didn't stop, but looked back to see his face quickly and then faced forward before he caught her expression.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked harshly.

"You have another person in you, right?"

"... No clue what you're talking about.."

"Well, that's too bad then.. Kuromi, was it? Then what happens to Kiyoko when you're present?" the man asked.

It was clear that he knew their names for hearing Leorio, Kurapika, and Gon call them every time he passed by the small group, but doubt still lingered in the air. The girls felt unnerved and remained quiet after hearing his little question.

"So there is another person in you, huh. How interesting," he said as he flickered the deck in his hands.

"... How do you know?" Kuromi asked cautiously. "You're the only outsider who found out about this without being informed so far..."

"Oh, I guess you can say... instinct."

'Instinct? Yeah, right...' Kiyoko and Kuromi said in unison.

"I can see that you don't believe me," Hisoka pointed out. "Let's just say that I pass your little travel group often then."

"That explains everything..." the girl growled, rolling her eyes to herself.

"You look like you're beginning to lag behind," the man said, watching her carefully.

Kuromi remained quiet. For sure, she was beginning to slow down due to weariness, but she didn't want to admit it. Not to him for sure.

"You can rest if you want. I'm not going to slow down," Kuromi said harshly.

"But if you damage your health any longer, I won't have the pleasure to kill you."

'Is that what he's worried about?' the girls thought nervously.

"I don't care if you won't get pleasure from trying to kill me. Just as long you stay AWAY from me. Now, STAY AWAY from me," Kuromi said, venom beginning to drip out from her words.

The girl picked up her pace and tried to lose the man at her tail. Instead of losing him, he only sped up with her and followed.

"Why are you following me..?"

"There's no other way to go in this pathway. Look around you, Girly," the man spoke, sending a cold shiver through her body and Kiyoko's spirit.

"Whatever..."

Kuromi dashed off as far as she could, trying to get away from Hisoka, but during the run, her stopwatch suddenly triggered a pit fall trap. The floor suddenly opened like a door beneath her feet, Kuromi catching the side of the pit quickly and hanging at the edge for dear life.

'Pull us out! If it begins to close, you'll lose you're grip and fall!' Kiyoko alerted, trying to figure out what was at the bottom.

"I know already, Kiyo! You don't have to tell me every time!" Kuromi growled, pulling herself up.

Hisoka suddenly stepped forward and grabbed her wrist, pulling her out of the trap himself.

"You should be more careful, Doll," the man said with a creepy smile, setting her back onto her feet.

Kuromi was surprised that he managed to catch up to her, but held a frown on her face.

"Don't. Call me that," the girl snarled furiously. "How did you catch up to me? The last time I looked, you didn't even take off when I did."

"Don't underestimate me," he said soothingly, earning a look of disgust.

'Okay, that's just creepy...' Kiyoko muttered.

* * *

**Stormy: I'm sorry I haven't been updating my HxH and Megaman SF fanfics! I was trying to finish my Buddyfight fanfic which I did.**

**Kiyoko: We'll try to catch up!**

**Kuromi: There's a poll on her profile. Check it and vote. Or go die.**

**Kiyoko: Kuro! Stop that!**

**Kuromi: -Grumbles-**

**Stormy: Uhhhh... Anyways...**

**Everyone: R&amp;R and enjoy! Thanks for being patient with us! Bet you didn't expect Hisoka to be there, haha.**

**_~stormy003_ **


	15. Chapter 14

It was, for sure, midnight by now, well in Kuromi and Kiyoko's perspective since they could no longer tell what time of the day is what anymore. Kiyoko was sleeping in her spiritual form. However, Kuromi was still walking on, decending this tower at a somewhat moderate pace with Hisoka next to her this time. She was clearly tired and her weary state was only slowly affecting Kiyoko, who was resting peacefully in her body.

"Hmmm, doesn't that affect your other self?" Hisoka asked, looking through his deck of cards.

"Yes, but I don't care about that right now," the girl answered.

"That's just harming yourself. You won't make it out alive if you're this stubborn..." he slurred.

"Okay, fine! I'll rest for dear lord's sake!" the girl exclaimed, plopping to the floor in an instant. "Now quit repeating that!"

"Ah, ah, ah. That's not a good spot to rest. No, not at all..." Hisoka said, picking her back up and swinging her over his shoulder lightly.

"WHOA! HEY, WATCH IT!" Kuromi yelled. "JUST WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING?!"

"Looking for a nice safe spot for us to rest. Can't have you killed on my watch. No, not just yet," he said, licking his lips.

'Ewww...' Kuromi suddenly thought, cringing at the sight.

Hisoka continued down the path as Kuromi hung over his left shoulder, trying to rest her tired eyes since she wasn't able to do anything. The man suddenly stopped in an unknown room in the tower and set her back down. Kuromi opened her eyes and saw that he was scanning the room for any traps. After confirming that there were none, he sat down in a corner away from the girl.

"Is it safe to sleep yet?" she suddenly decided to ask.

"Rest assured. I see nothing out of the ordinary," he replied as he pulled out the deck of cards he hid and stashed away.

"Thank god..." Kuromi said before going to sleep.

The man began to stack up his cards into a tower as time passed by, the girl finally fully asleep. The cards were now fully stacked into a mini 2-D pyramid, but he still had on card left in his hand. The black ace of spades.

"You will get out of here alive, so that I can have that pleasure of killing you, Dolly."

And with that said, the man toppled down the stacked up card silently with the single card, just grinning to himself.

* * *

Kuromi began to wake up and groaned when she opened her eyes a little, the dim light seeping through her pupils. From the position she was in and the movement she felt, she knew meeting up with Hisoka was no nightmare, but reality. Perhaps, reality WAS nightmare for her now.

"Did you even sleep last night?" she groaned, wanting to get off his shoulder once again.

"About two hours," he answered casually though it was seemingly a lie.

"How do you still have so much energy...?" the girl asked in a groggy tone.

Hisoka looked over and gave her a cheeky clown looking grin. Not a good mix with a guy like him...

'I have my own ways,' he whispered.

"Then keep it to yourself. I don't want to know nor do I need to!" she stated, her eyes finally adjusting to the light.

"Suit yourself."

Silence crawled into the air for a few seconds until Kuromi decided to break it again in such an awkward way.

"How did you injure your right shoulder and waist?"

"Oh that? It's nothing special."

"... Want to let me walk yet?" she finally decided to ask.

"No," he answered back.

"Why not?!" the negative girl yelled.

"Look down."

Kuromi did what the man told her to do irritably and looked down into a dark pit. The color in her face drained away completely, leaving her pale in utter shock.

"W-what are you walking on?!"

"A very narrow rope obviously," Hisoka answered, walking through the obstacle as if it was nothing.

"D-DON'T YOU DARE DROP ME!"

"What would you do if I did?"

"KILL YOU, THAT'S FOR SURE!"

"But you'd be dea-"

"DON'T USE LOGIC ON ME, CLOWN FACE!"

Hisoka silently laughed to himself and continued walking across the rope until he reached to the other side. He slowly set the girl back onto her feet afterwards, earning death glares and foul languages from her as he did so.

"Kiyoko must not be awake if you're cursing so much... I'm right, aren't I?"

"None of your DAMN BUSINESS!" she exclaimed, walking off.

'What a complicated woman...' he thought.

All of the yelling and Kuromi's raging anger and fustrations began to take effect on Kiyoko, making her wake up curiously to what was happening. She clearly has no idea what was going on since she was asleep the entire time when it all happened. Kuromi was still stomping off in a quick pace, keeping her attention ahead of herself and not behind her so she doesn't see Hisoka.

'Is something the matter, Kuro?' Kiyoko asked tiredly, giving a quick yawn. 'Or do you just want me to read your mind?'

'That clown face was planning to drop us into a damn endless pit that's what. I have nothing to hide,' Kuromi growled inwardly.

'You and your name calling... Maybe that's why everyone wants to murder me.. He didn't though, right? Just ignore him,' Kiyoko suggested.

"Duck," Hisoka suddenly said, ducking down and grabbing at the girl's right ankle.

His action halted Kuromi's movement and caused her to trip and fall to the floor quickly and unexpectedly.

"W-WHOA! OOF! WHAT THE HELL?!" Kuromi exclaimed after falling, looking back.

A scythe suddenly flew passed them, a few inches away and above from their heads.

'Holy crap...!' the girl screamed mentally.

'... See?' Kiyoko said.

Hisoka then stood up and brushed off his clothing as if nothing happened, giving her a spine shivering smile.

"You can thank me later."

Kuromi then frowned and stood up from the floor, brushing the dirt and dust off her own clothes as she walked forward, totally pissed off. The fustrated personal suddenly stuck out her tongue at the man childishly and looked away, crossing her arms together. Time continued to pass as the two of them continued to avoid deadly traps and advance further into the tower, feeling as if another day had passed by. Every time the girl fell asleep due to her weak state, the man would just sling her onto his shoulder and continue on. Eventually, they made it to the end of the tower within the time limit, being the second ones to reach the end with a chunk of time to spare even though both Yukimura's were asleep. Gittarackur seemed to be the very first contestant to enter. Apparently, no one else was in the empty room but Kuromi, Gittarackur, and Hisoka.

'Contestants number forty-four and four hundred and six are second to finish the third trial. Clear time: fifteen hours and four minutes,' an announcer said.

Hisoka carefully laid down the girl onto the floor against the wall and went over to a different secluded area to play around with his cards again, not really wanting to wake Kuromi up.

"I could have done better... Oh well, that girl could have died without me.."

"Oh? So that's why you weren't the first to be here, to help a measly little girl?" Gittarackur asked, earning a smirk.

* * *

Contestants finally began to enter the giant circular room , the girls were up wide awake, watching them enter and listening to the time announcements.

'Do you think they're okay?' Kiyoko suddenly asked. 'I'm quite worried about Gon most right now... He isn't too bright..'

'They're fine. Nerdy Cat Face can survive on his own with that stupid cocky attitude of his and Sir Doctor McFail... Yeah, I don't know about him. Just don't worry about them. It gives me stress,' Kuromi answered.

'Time is nearly up... Hope they aren't too heavily injured or..'

'Don't say, Kiyoko. It might come true,' Kuromi said as she stretched.

A few minutes later, Killua, Gon, and Kurapika entered the room on a makeshift vehicle, looking all tattered up and dirtied from dirt and possibly bruises.

"My butt seriously feels sore from sitting on this... and that slide...!" Killua complained, standing up and stepping onto the floor to remove his skateboard from beneath.

"I didn't think there was going to be a slide for that short easy path.." Kurapika stated.

"That sure cut it close though didn't it?" Gon said, looking at Kurapika.

"Though my hands are now covered in blisters.." the boy answered, raising up his hands to show Gon.

"Same.. here...!" Leorio suddenly grunted.

Everyone fixed their attention to the doorway and watch as Leorio and Tonpa came in seconds later, still pressed up against each other as they continued to shove weakly. The two men couldn't fit through the doorway yet kept elbowing the opposing man's body even though their legs kept wobbling and they look like they're about to faint. Kuromi stayed on the floor and watched them enter, ignoring the time announcements as the boys spotted her. Kuromi allowed Kiyoko take over half the body and continued to watch and stay silent.

"Ah. They fell out last minute," Kurapika said casually.

"I'M NEVER DOING THAT AGAIN!" the two men exclaimed.

"Ahem. My hands are in blisters as well, but at least we managed to clear the tower together," Leorio said, ruffling Gon's head up. "And it's all thankd to this kid right here."

The young boy chuckled in embarrassment and held up a hand to his head as Leorio's left contact. He than proceeded to look around tried to spot Kiyoko, or in this case, Kuromi as well.

"I found her, I found her!" the girls heard Gon exclaim.

The young boy ran over to Kiyoko and Kuromi with Killua, Kurapika and Leorio following behind, and plopped to the floor, leaving Tonpa behind.

"Glad you made it through alright!" he said.

"And you as well," Kiyoko replied, smiling. "We had a little help along the way though..."

The girl blinked and nervously trailed her eyes to Hisoka, seeing him smile at the group. Everyone followed her gaze and stared at the man curiously and a little unnerved.

"He didn't do anything to you, right?" Kurapika asked cautiously.

"The old hag doesn't look injured.. so probably not," Killua shrugged.

'Quit calling me that, Snow Fuzz!' Kuromi exclaimed quietly, trying hard not to reveal herself to anyone else.

"Uh... Excuse her..." Kiyoko said. "Wait, do you know who is who?"

Killua slightly shook his head and stared at the girl as he pointed.

"You're one person right...?"

"What do you mean by that?" Kiyoko asked.

"You and whoever... You're the same?" the boy asked again.

Kiyoko blinked and then smiled brightly.

"Is it hard to believe that we are?" Kiyoko asked. "You are talking to Kiyoko right now, by the way."

Killua nodded and then squinted a little, feeling something a little... unusual... around the girl, well, in his perspective. Kuromi just rolled the eye she had in her control and then retreated back into the body, giving Kiyoko full control.

'Is it just me or do I see sparkles and flowers around her right now...?' he asked awkwardly, everyone else sweat dropping.

A buzzer then sounded loudly in the room as the announcer proceeded to end the third trial.

'The third phase is now over with twenty-six applicants passing! Sadly, one has died,' he said.

Kiyoko shivered at the sound of death and looked down a little, earning a quick and less rough pat from Leorio for reassurance. Kurapika helped pull her up to her feet, an excuse in giving her a quick hug, and the door to the outside world has finally opened up, bright sunlight showering the inside of the dim tower. Everyone took a step outside and felt relieved to be back out again, not cramped up in that stuffy tower. Gon ran out towards the edge of the cliff and stretched out his arms, taking in fresh air as he did so with everyone else behind him.

"Hey, Gon!" Killua called to the boy, sounding a little disappointed.

The boy lowered down his arms and fishing rod to look at Killua curiously, seeing him approach him with his skateboard in hand.

"The wheels are all bumpy now because of that rough ride!" he exclaimed, pointing at the wheels of his board.

"E-eh?" Gon said, leaning back nervously.

"What are you going to do about this?"

Kiyoko smiled at the young boys and wrapped her left arm underneath her chest to rest her right arm and head atop of it.

"S-sorry, Killua..."

"No way in hell am I going to forget about this!" the silver haired boy stated, leaning closer to Gon.

The proctor of the fourth phase made his appearance outside, quickly earning everyone's attention.

"Congratulations on escaping Trick Tower and passing this third trial, ladies and gentlemen," he began. "I am a black list hunter and the fourth phase's proctor, Lippo. Only two phases, the fourth phase and final phase, now stand in your way."

"Two more left..." someone in the group muttered anxiously.

"Now you all are going to," he said, snapping his fingers and pointing a thumb behind him, "get onto this."

Everyone looked at the airship in surprise and awe as it appeared from below the cliff.

"We're going to the next phase already?" Leorio asked, his jaw dropped.

"Oh, come on! We're riding on another airship!" Gon exclaimed brightly.

"'Come on'?" the man repeated.

"The fourth phase of the exam will take place on Zevil Island right over there," Lippo stated, pointing behind the airship. "Before you do get onto this air ship though, let us proceed..."

The man snapped his fingers again, but this time another bigger and taller man came out with a box on a rolling cart.

"What's this..?" Kiyoko asked curiously.

"I will need you all to draw lots first."

"Lots...? What for...?" Pokkle asked.

"To determine who will hunt and who will be hunted..." the man said, smirking a little. "You there!"

Kiyoko jumped when he pointed at her, directing all attention over to her unexpectedly.

'M-me?' she asked meekly.

"Come here for a second."

The girl looked around and then sighed, feeling anxious as the others tried to reassure her.

'WHY? WHAT THE HELL?!' Kuromi exclaimed. 'WE DIDN'T CHEAT OR ANYTHING!'

'You'll be fine..' Kurapika whispered to her, shooting a small smile.

Leorio ruffled up her hair lightly and gave her a giant smile along with Gon and Killua patting her arms. Kiyoko managed to smile back at the boys and headed over to Lippo as her pulse began to speed up little by little.

"Is there something you need, Lippo-san?" she asked, stopping in front of him.

"In fact, yes, I do. Please stand next to me. We'll talk after these guys finish drawing their lots."

Kiyoko blinked and then nodded as she listened to the hunter.

"In here, there are twenty-five numbered cards. In other words... Your ID numbers are on a card. I will now need you all to draw a card out of this box in the order you all exited this tower," Lippo explained. "Now, will the first person please step up and draw?"

Kiyoko eyed Hisoka as he came forward to the box, clear injuries on his body, as he stared at the box very uninterested. The man reached into the box and looked at the covered card before heading off for Gittarackur to do the same. Everyone began to line up slowly and grab a random card in the box as Kiyoko blinked and looked over to Lippo.

'I guess Lippo-san didn't mind him and Gittaracku switching orders...' Kiyoko thought.

'I know you're curious to why I pulled you out.'

'That's... correct..' she whispered back.

'You'll know soon,' the man said.

Kiyoko looked over to see Kurapika approach the box, shooting her a quick glance before drawing and walking away. Gon and Killua did the same thing and exchanged small talk for a few seconds after they got a card.

"I don't know what this is about, but I draw with style!" Leorio stated, leaning in to grab a card.

He then shot a smile at Kiyoko to make her feel a little more comfortable and walked away with a serious looking face. Tonpa hesitantly grabbed a card last and left.

'Okay... So I've been told to pull you out and give you a different task, number four hundred and six,' Lippo began.

'Please, just Kiyoko is fine..' she corrected, thinking the number is too long.

'Kiyoko, then. Anyways, the chairman has noticed your... ability.. Being able to switch between another person and turning into a beast.'

'The Kirikos must have informed him..' Kuromi growled.

'Instead of hunting or being hunted by a specific person, you will have to survive and avoid being hunted by EVERYONE,' the man said with a smirk. 'Your number is written as an extra bonus point for the others and all you need to do is avoid them.'

'That doesn't sound... fun...' the girl said anxiously.

'Don't worry.. By the looks of how you performed in Trick Tower, you have a small chance to survive this. The final phase will remain unknown to you until it is time.'

'How reassuring...' Kuromi said sarcastically as Kiyoko nodded.

"Has everyone gotten a card yet?" the man suddenly asked in a louder tone.

No one answered but just stared.

"Alright then, please remove the seal on your cards!"

And just with that the seals came flying off from one swift movement of their hands, revealing the numbers of who they needed to hunt for.

"The card... indicates your target..." Lippo stated, everyone suddenly covering their ID numbers. "This box here has recorded which card you all have drawn out. This means that you're free to dispose the card if you all like. The objective is to steal that target's ID."

"S-so we don't need to kill each other?" one of the three brothers in the group asked.

"Well, naturally, you are free to use any method of your choice to steal. That includes killing your target and stealing their tags off their corpse."

"That's fairly easy then. That is the fastest way after all," Amori said.

'Does that mean I can kill them and fend them off too?' Kiyoko whispered cautiously, earning a nod.

"Soo... I-is that what this entire thing is about?" Imori asked.

"Oh, quit being such a scaredy cat, you fool!" Umori said, elbowing his brother, Imori.

Lippo then held up three fingers to continue his explanations.

"Your target's tag is worth three points along with your own. All others will only be worth one," he said, holding up his index finger now. "However, a certain special tag will be worth six... I'm sure you know what the number is.. It is starred in the left upper corner."

Kiyoko was watching the contestants scan their card again, her tag being hidden by her hair. They all looked around curiously, not remembering who the owner was, but was then eyeing her suspiciously.

"You will need six points to advance to the final phase," Lippo continued, holding up six fingers. "So while on Zevil Island, you must rack up enough ID tags to get six points full. That is the condition of this exam's fourth phase..."

Kiyoko looked back at the man as his giant clear glasses shone in the sun, his smirk growing a little.

'That number... It must be Kiyoko's..' Kurapika whispered to Leorio.

'This doesn't sound very good...' the doctor to be replied back.

'Kuromi, we'll be switching back and forth a lot.. Are you ready to test our endurance and stamina up to this point?' Kiyoko asked, her heart beating hard from anxiety.

'Born to be ready..!' Kuromi stated proudly.

* * *

**Stormy: My updates are so horribleeee! I want to speed it up and make them longer without losing so much sleep and time, but I'm so busy!**

**Kiyoko: -Sweat drops- There is a poll on Stormy's profile so please check it out!**

**Stormy: Thanks for the reviews! AND YES I'M ALIVE! AND I MISSED YOU TOO~ XDDD It's just that I've been so busy and sick! DON'T WORRY 2 MORE MONTHS UNTIL SUMMER! YOU'LL LIVE, GUYS! I'LL BE ABLE TO UPDATE STORIES AND DRAW MORE OFTEN DURING SUMMER. WE. WILL. LIVEEEE. XDD -I'm desperate for that time to actually come, haha-**

**Both: R&amp;R and enjoy!**

**_~stormy003_**


	16. Chapter 15

Gon and Killua were looking out the giant window with awe and excitement as the island came into their sight. Gon was pressing himself into the window to get a closer look their destination as the boy next to him stood back and watched.

"There are so many broken and destroyed ships in the sea near Zevil Island," Gon said mindlessly, earning a pat on the head from Kiyoko.

"Those are all shipwrecks," Kurapika told the boy.

"I don't give a crap... I just want to get off already!" Leorio complained.

"Kuromi said you complain a lot.. Or, well, too much," Kiyoko told the man, looking over to face him.

"Great, she can go plug her ears or something cause she'll have to deal with it," Leorio grumbled.

"Actually, I agree with her," Kurapika jumped in.

"Well you can go do the same thing then!" the man exclaimed.

The airship was now flying over the wrecked ships, showing a perfect view from above.

"From here on out, it just looks like a perfect graveyard for ships that'll passes by here..." the Kurta commented.

'That's horrible..' Kiyoko told herself as the airship got closer to a perfectly safe sailing ship.

The airship the contestants were on finally landed, allowing them to climb back out and take in their surroundings once more from the outside of shelter.

"This must be the test site for our next phase..." Kurapika stated.

"I wonder how the test will be like!" Gon said with anticipation. "Must be very exciting like the others!"

A groan suddenly sounded behind the little group causing them all to turn around and watch Leorio complain and moan in disgust.

"I... I don't feel so good..." he said sickly.

"Motion sickness..?" Kiyoko asked, patting his back. "You seemed fine in the last airship ride.."

"It you want to and are going to puke, go somewhere else. Don't think about doing it here," Killua told the man.

"I should have just taken my motion sickness pill before we got on the damn thing..." he continued.

"Hello, applicants of the Hunter Exam!" an old couple said. "We are you host for today!"

The two bowed respectfully to everyone as the old man greeted them all kindly.

"Welcome!"

Everyone stared while Kiyoko smiled at them both softly.

"... Are they the next proctors...?" Leorio asked stupidly

"Don't be ridiculous.. They aren't," Killua answered immediately.

Leorio looked over at the boy and gave a quick squint with his eyes.

"And just how do you know that...?"

Killua didn't answer him immediately, his face expression staying blank as ever. He then adjusted his skateboard underneath his arm to get a more comfortable feel and stuck his hand back into his pockets, finally replying.

"I don't know, I just feel... Actually, let's put it this way... I don't feel excited. There's no adrenaline overwhelming my body like how Gon was trying express," the boy reasoned.

"What's up with this layout then?" Leorio mumbled.

The woman with brown hair and low pigtails cracked a larger smile to everyone and began to speak once more.

"My name is Banner and this is my husband, Genner," Banner said warmly, holding her hand out in front of her husband as she introduced themselves.

"Hello. It's a pleasure to meet everyone of you," Genner greeted kindly.

Their smiles were stuck onto their faces, never twitching or fading away.

"I am the manager of this hotel you all will be staying at-"

Hanzo began walking closer to the lovely old couple curiously with a messenger bag in his hand as he cut off the woman and asked, "Wait did I hear you call this place a hotel?"

"That is correct! This ship has been partly converted into a hotel with all the beneficial resources stocked on," Genner responded, pushing up his glasses. "We were granted the honor of hosting His Majesty, the King of Nebra. This hotel is also the most popular among celebrities of the continent who would refer it to the White Palace on the Ocean.."

'Is he bragging?' Kuromi groaned. 'Somehow, I can't stand this old man.'

'Be nice..' Kiyoko told herself.

Hanzo was now towering over the two old hosts, blocking the light from their view and staring down at them intimidatingly. Genner gave a soft 'huh?' and looked up from the floor and to the younger man.

"I ever asked for the sales pitch for this place," he stated. "You both aren't proctors, right?"

Genner questioningly looked over at his wife and asked whether they were or were not with a quick innocent, "Oh, are we?"

Of course the woman had to reply in her husband's stead, but she didn't look like she mind it too much or even at all.

"Yes, that is a good question, young man," she replied. "The Hunter Committee gave me a message to deliver it to you all._ 'To all who passed Phase Three, a job well done! Congratulations with your passing. The Fourth Phase will begin three days from now, so until then, please enjoy the short break you will be spending on this island.'_"

"A break!" Gon exclaimed excitedly.

Leorio's now cocky self was back into shape and functioning correctly again after getting a few minutes of fresh air into his lungs.

"Aw, a break? That's such a disappointment... And here I was, readily waiting to take the next exam," the man said, closing his eyes and holding his chin up high.

He then felt nauseous and the need to puke, covering his mouth up and turning away quickly to groan and regurgitate loudly and disturbingly.

"I thought I told you to go do that somewhere else and not here," Killua complained, glaring at the vomiting man.

"Just let him be.." Kiyoko told the boy as Leorio said something about thinking that he puked his guts out just now in the background.

"A little rest here and there would do us lots of good actually," Kurapika said calmly, smiling at the idea. "It has been quite tough from the start ever since day one.."

'You're cleaning that up!' Killua exclaimed from behind.

Kiyoko sighed and decided to drag the boy with her as everyone began walking off to do their own business.

"Alright then! I'll just take a shower and get all squeaky clean and refreshed again," Leorio stated, slumping forward and sagging his arms as he walked.

"Just wait a minute please," Banner called.

The group of participants looked over at the old woman and old man curiously with Leorio responding to her call.

"What is it now?" he asked boringly.

And of course, their inviting smile has never left the faces, even as Genner pulled out his wallet for some reason they weren't aware of yet.

"Here, you'll have to, in advance, pay ten million jenny per person," the benign woman stated happily.

Everyone stared at the two in disbelief their eyes wide, jaws either dropped open or twitching nervously. The woman suddenly turned over to Kiyoko and tilted her head to the side.

"For you, dear, is a special case," she said, sending a bad feeling in the girl's guts.

'Damn it. She probably knows about me,' Kuromi said.

"T-ten million jenny?! Are you nuts?!" Leorio exclaimed.

"You're actually going to charge us?!" Gon added frighteningly.

"More over..." Killua said just as scared.

"That is way too expensive!" Kurapika finished for the boy.

"S-special case for me?" Kiyoko asked in shock.

"For that price, I could stay at the most deluxe hotel in Yorknew city for at least six months, but this?" Tonpa exclaimed.

Clearly, no one was accepting the price value and the couple's deal, still very irritably shock from the charge of such a rundown looking place.

"Um, is there... a special price for kids who don't have that much money in their pockets...?" Gon asked nervously.

"I mean, seriously. Do we look like nobly rich aristocrats to you both or something?" Leorio asked in a fidgety way, running up to them both. "Even a respective adult wouldn't have such a monumental amount of money!"

"If so... Then we can not allow you all to stay.." Genner said bluntly.

"WELL, THAT'S FINE BY ME!" Leorio exclaimed, throwing his arms up into the air. "I'd rather sleep outside on the island somewhere than such a hideously overpriced place like this anyways!"

The man began to walk off on his own stubbornly as everyone watched him go.

"We have three days, Leorio," Kurapika reminded him. "The problem we have here is water. Not food or shelter. On a small island like this, there will be little hope in finding water from a spring that'll be fresh and accessible to us all. All you can do is hope for rain to suddenly come."

Leorio stopped walking and opened all ears to the teen.

"Under the burning hot sun like this tropical one here, we would be completely dehydrated within two days though even if it did rain, it's still a low chance that we'd be able to recover enough strength from that for endurance in the rest of the exam."

"Then what am I supposed to do?!" the man exclaimed angrily. "Not even in my corybantic dreams did I even have that kind of money in my possession!"

"For people in your situation though..." Genner suddenly jumped in. "We are both more than happy enough to suggest a substitute method of the payment.

"An alternative... way?" Leorio repeated curiously.

"What is it..?" Kurapika asked in everyone's place.

Genner closed his eyes and tilted his head lower to the floor.

"Why it's quite simple... Anything interesting you have to trade?"

"Trade? You mean our belongings?" Kiyoko asked.

"Well, you see, my wife and I own an antique shop and the shipwrecks around the island may have great treasures contained in there..."

"It you were to bring back any valuable treasure from those ships, you could put it towards the cost of your room," Banner said.

"WHAT?!" Leorio exclaimed.

"Though depending on the item's value... the type of room will be decided by us."

* * *

"Those two oldies sure are taking advantage of us in this situation..." Leorio complained. "THEY'RE TOTALLY SCAMMING US! I bet their just making us work off our butts so they could make more than a living... Just taking advantage of us poor applicants year after year!"

"Quit complaining already..." Kurapika groaned as he walked around.

"Take a break... YEAH RIGHT!" Leorio yelled as he picked up a brown pot. "We have to work right now so WHY CAN'T WE JUST TAKE THE DAMN EXAM NOW?! THIS IS POINTLESS!"

"Right... There is a chunk of possibility that this might be a part of the exam since treasure hunting is a fundamental skills for those who aim to be a hunter..." Kurapika agreed.

"Please stop complaining I think I have my hands filled with one person already..." Kiyoko stated, trudging around to look for items.

"Hey, is that...?" Kurapika asked pointing at a golden embroidered flute.

"Correct. A noble's hand crafted flute presented to the King Britain. The only one that has ever existed in the world and made the most melodic sound that can lull anyone into relaxation and peace," the girl explained.

"Wait, wait, wait, what?" Leorio asked.

"I'm not repeating," Kiyoko said, looking for another treasure.

"Then why are you looking for another valuable item?" Leorio asked.

"They know..." Kiyoko said disappointingly.

Hanzo and Gon emerged out of the sea and held up their treasure excitedly.

"I found something!" they both exclaimed childishly.

After all the hunting was done, everyone began to turn in the items they found, getting their room keys and frowning at the old couple irritably. Something seemed off with Kurapika though as he stared at the item in his hand.

"You said that was an item from the Kurta clan, right?" Kiyoko asked, earning the teen's attention. "Are you thinking about whether there's a sliver of chance that maybe someone else is out there?"

Kurapika smiled at the girl and pulled her closer to show the gold and ruby pendant.

"I'm sure there's no one else out there in this world... At least I don't think. But I was only curious when that boat got there and why the Kurtas were out there for."

Kiyoko looked up, their faces unexpectedly close. The girl looked back down and blushed, trying hard not to make the same mistake again.

"W-well, it doesn't hurt to think and have some hope..?" she questioned instead of said, earning an embarrassed laugh from Kurapika.

"Maybe.." he said, resting his forehead on top of the girl's head.

* * *

**Stormy: I'm going to be experimenting with outline set ups for my stories time to time so if it starts looking different, yeahhhh, take note of that xD**

**Kiyoko: Poll on profile! Don't forget!**

**Kuromi: Why worry when you still need to finish your stories? -grumble grumble- **

**Stormy: So I don't have to worry about it later, durrr. Thanks so much for the reviews! Love you guys so much, haha.**

**-DON'T WORRY, LIZ! I'LL LIVE! -breathing- EVEN IF I DIE, I'LL POSSIBLY BECOME A WALKING DEAD LIKE RAVEN FROM TALES OF VESPERIA XDDDD**

**-I'll leave the reasons of why Kiyoko's test is different from everyone else's test in your thoughts. I MEAN EITHER WAY, YOU'RE IDEAS PROBABLY RIGHT, NO WRONG ANSWERS, HAHAHA**

**-I love leaving cliffhangers without a notice. Get to watch people sit at the edge of their seats waiting for more, HAHA. I'M SORRY!**

**Everyone: Again, thank you so much for the support! Just 19-18 more days of school left and Stormy here will be free to update for 2 months straight(not really everyday, but I can try)! **

**Stormy: Oh man, I got a message on Wattpad where someone said they shipped Kiyoko with Kurapika while Kuromi is shipped with Killua. -dying- They might kill each other before that can even happen xDDD Oh right, I'll try to update as much as I can starting this week, but for sure, May 16 will have NO UPDATES AT ALL! It's my birthday that day and I might not come on until late at night xD**

**Everyone: R&amp;R AND ENJOY!**

**_~stormy003_**


	17. Chapter 16

Luke warm water in one of the ship's private room continued to spray and fill the room with steam as Kiyoko stood in one spot, thinking about what she should do after the exam and her family. She suddenly felt empty, wondering what was missing within her right at the moment. Was it her brother? Her family? Their love and affections? Maybe it was her lack of trust and enthusiasm around her friends she made during the test. No, that didn't feel right for her. Kiyoko kept thinking harder and harder each time until she gave herself a headache.

'You shouldn't think about it too much,' she heard someone say.

Kiyoko snapped her head up and scanned her surroundings cautiously, covering up her chest and closing up her legs as she did this. Was she hallucinating? It surely didn't sound anything like Kuromi and, in fact, Kiyoko knew Kuromi was already resting in her mental state.

'Relax and fool around as much as possible. You don't need to grow up too quickly to impress them, not at all,' the voice continued.

The girl finally recognized who's voice it was. It was a male's voice for sure, older than her by at least two to three years, sounding soft and not to deep. Uryuu, Yukimura Uryuu to be exact. "N-nii-san...?" she called out to confirm it. 'But he's dead.. I must be hallucinating... Is it because of the steam?'

'No need to grow up to fast to impress anyone. I'll be here to help you out whenever. Become your shield and sword, allowing you to wield me as you please when seeking for protection.'

The girl shut her eyes tight and turned off the water, finally, quickly wrapping herself in a towel and running out the bathroom while covering up her ears. She then stopped by her bed and dropped to her knees, cringing at the sound ringing in her head, feeling haunted and wanting to escape.

'Have you been a good girl? Dad will lecture you again if you haven't and that'll upset mom again. You don't want that now do you?' Uryuu's voice asked. "ENOUGH!" Kiyoko suddenly hollered.

Alerted by the girl's yell, Leorio and Kurapika slammed the door open and rushed inside to check on her. With wide eyes and heavy ragged breathing, Kiyoko stared at the floor, looking as if she was going to go crazy.

"Hey, hey, hey, are you okay?" Leorio asked as the two rushed to her side. No answer came from Kiyoko as she continued to breath heavily. She was clutching at the towel tightly with her left hand as her right arm supported herself with her remaining strength to stay up. Leorio quickly took off his blazer and wrapped it around her, keeping her from getting a cold or even freezing to death.

"Kiyoko, are you alright?" Kurapika tried asking again. But after he asked the same question, the girl fell over onto the floor and fainted. Kurapika began to shake her a little, feeling panicked, while Leorio checked her temperature and looked around her room for clothes.

"Kiyoko! Kiyoko!" Kurapika called.

"She's fainted... But I'm not sure from what..." Leorio said, bringing back clothes. "She doesn't have a cold, fever, or flu." Kurapika picked the girl up and walked over to the bed in the back center of the room, settling her down carefully and looking at Leorio. "... So who's dressing her?" the man asked as he blushed, earning a glare from a reddened Kurta.

"I know what you're thinking, you perverted bastard," Kurapika growled.

* * *

The two males managed to get the girl dressed and tucked into bed comfortably, red still coloring deeply into their faces. They were clearly embarrassed, but they were also very worried about her well-being. 'You will not speak of this to anyone,' Kurapika stated quietly. Leorio was too busy smirking and chuckling like an idiot to himself, making Kurapika even angrier and punch the back of his head hard enough for him to fall to the ground. 'Clear?' he growled.

'Yeah, yeah...' Leorio muttered, standing back up and rubbing his head. "Should we ask her what happened later?" The Kurta stood and thought for a bit holding, his bare and not so noticeably built arm up to rest his chin into his fingers. The teen was certainly curious, but at the same time, he didn't want to invade anymore privacy. Not that he didn't already.. "We can leave it at this. We've already invaded most of her privacy by this point and she can tell us if she ever feels like she needs to."

The doctor-to-be just shrugged at the Kurta's response and walked out of the room. Kurapika however, just stayed back for a few more seconds longer and decided to follow him out right after. "Now I think about it.. Where's Kuromi?" Kurapika suddenly asked.

"Hey.. You're right. She wasn't present when Kiyoko fainted."

* * *

It was now late in the afternoon when the girl woke up from her unconscious state. Kiyoko sat up in her bed tiredly and looked around the room, wondering what time it was and what happened earlier. 'Oh, right... I panicked to the point where I fainted..' she thought.

She then looked down to see that she was all dressed up, wondering who did it for her and blushing embarrassingly when she thought of the possibility that it was a guy. After all, there were more men than women who were taking the exam and the four males that she sticks to were the only one who would check up on her if anything happens. The girl sighed and got off her bed slowly, stumbling to get her balance again before she started to walk. the door opened to reveal Kurapika at the entrance.

"You're awake," he said calmly, walking over and seating her back down. "I believe you should stay down for a little longer. How long have you been up?"

"I just woke up," the girl responded, landing back onto the bed.

"I see... Leorio is coming back in a bit to check on you again," Kurapika told the girl. "Do you feel dizzy or unwell?"

"No, no just tired.." she replied, smiling.

Leorio then entered the room to see the two seated at the bed and went over to them with a cheeky grin on his face. "Morning," he said.

"Leorio, it's the late afternoon already," the girl chuckled.

He then began to check her pulse and breathing again before answering her with a 'Yeah, I know.'

"You were just sleeping for a long time and we grew worried about your well-being. That's all," the man said, checking her temperature. "Nothing has changed and you seem fine. I guess you're free to go do whatever you want."

Kuromi was finally awake as well and decided to invade in the conversation, taking up half of Kiyoko's body and groaning in response. "What hell is going on? Did I miss anything important?" she muttered obliviously.

"Nothing at all," Kurapika answered, a straight face clearly visible.

"Not like I was asking you, Bookworm," Kuromi huffed.

"Then who were you asking?"

"Who else?"

Kiyoko nervously laughed and looked away. "Actually.. It's not like I know what's going on either," she replied.

"Whatever," Kuromi said before going back to her spiritual state. 'The nerve of that brat.'

Kiyoko then looked back her the two male with her usual smile, but then her face expression then darkened, surprising both Kurapika and Leorio. The two exchanged a quick look with each other, sending a message with their eyes, and then looked back at her nervously. "Now which one of you was it that came here and took a look at my body...?" she asked threateningly, grabbing her staff and swinging it above Kurapika's head and an inch away from Leorio's body.

'She knows!' the males in the room thought.

The girl then reverted to Kuromi and a visible glare was no taking over her used to be bright face, her eyes becoming sharper than ever. Kiyoko had more speed than Kuromi, but speed didn't matter at the moment. She needed power to hurt them just enough and Kuromi was the one who possessed the higher points in strength. The girl was a lot slower than her positive self, but whenever she swung her staff, they all could hear the wind and whipping noises loud and clear.

"If you tell us, I'll let one of you out of this brutal beat up," Kuromi said, continuing to attack.

Kurapika dodged the attacks fluently unlike Leorio, who kept stumbling around on his feet as he moved back and to the sides. "He did it!" Leorio exclaimed, pointing at the Kurta.

"Like I have a dirty mind to do that," he countered. "Only a pervert would do such thing."

This only ticked off the girl further, making her even more violent than she already was. She managed to land a powerful hit into their abdomen and knock them onto the floor. They were both now groaning in pain on the floor, holding their stomachs. "Idiotic perverts," she growled.

'Why me...' Leorio groaned.

'You brought this upon yourself... Leorio,' Kurapika grunted as he tried to prop himself up. 'Why was I included into this..'

"Like hell I did!" he exclaimed.

* * *

"I feel like we shouldn't trust this place," Kuromi suddenly told herself.

"Why is that?" Kiyoko asked, waving around her staff carelessly.

"Those old couple just give me a bad impression." Leorio's scream was suddenly heard a second later, filling the boat up and grabbing everybody's attention. "Crap, dude, he screams loud.." Kuromi muttered.

"Leorio is Leorio. It's normal for him to be that loud," Kiyoko chuckled, decreasing the length of her staff and tossing it over to the bag next to her bed. "Should we sleep tonight or no? I don't think I can sleep after the unwanted nap I took this afternoon."

"Unwanted nap? Just what happened today...?" Kuromi asked.

"I took a shower when we entered the boat and you said you were going to sleep. I was thinking about somethings like life after I finished washing up, but then I began to hear..."

"To hear?"

Kiyoko paused as she allowed herself to remember what happened that day. "I heard Uryuu's voice. I started to panic and ran out of the shower only to pass out a minute later," she replied. "It was pretty odd suddenly hearing him. As if i was being haunted by his ghost."

"That is odd... I don't think we ever heard him after he died, so why now...?"

Kiyoko shrugged and rested herself back onto her bed comfortably, tossing and turning a few times before turning off the lights. It was natural that she wasn't able to sleep after taking such a long nap that way and Kuromi was still in doubt with the ship and it's owners. "I still wonder why Uryuu was here or why I was even hallucinating. Must have been the steam in the shower..."

'Must be,' a familiar voice called from the other side. The door opened quietly, allowing Kurapika to enter the room one last time for the day. "Sorry, I managed to overhear your conversation. I just wanted to check up on you one final time before we went to bed."

"I see. It's fine," Kiyoko said.

"No, it's not," Kuromi countered lightlly. Kurapika only ignored her and headed over to their bed, sitting down at the edge and looking up at the ceiling. "Do you.. miss your brother?" he asked. Kiyoko turned her head and looked at him before answering with a quick, 'yes.' The boy looked at her and smiled sympathetically. "Sorry, I shouldn't have asked."

"It's fine, I don't mind little questions." Silence then began to fill the room slowly as the two stared a bit and looked away sheepishly. "Say, do you have a dream you want to fulfill? Possibly make real?" Kiyoko suddenly asked.

"Hmmmm, all I seek now is revenge to be perfectly honest," the Kurta answered. "I don't have anything else to think about, not that I know of... How about you?" Kiyoko smiled and thought for a little. "What is it that I dream of...? Living independently in place of my brother? I don't know either," she chuckled. "I hid behind him for way too long, I can't even think for myself or live as myself ever since he passed. Now I have Kuromi to pose as me sometimes."

"You better start learning to be yourself, don't keep hiding behind others," Kurapika told the girl. "No one will actually acknowledge you if you pose yourself as someone else or hide."

"I know, I know.. But I can't really help it. Not when those who know about my stupid cursed blood and Kuromi fears me so much."

"Not everyone is afraid of you," the boy said, giving the grim looking girl a warm smiled. "I'm not scared. Leorio, Gon, and Killua aren't either, so don't worry about it too much." He then stood up, but was stopped by Kiyoko when she grabbed his hand. "What's wrong?" he asked, turning to look at the girl. "Whoa!"

Kiyoko sat up as she tugged him down and hugged him tightly, catching him off guard. It sounded like she was giggling in relief as she held him closely. The odd thing only Kurapika noticed was that Kuromi wasn't protesting any of their actions this time and remaining quiet. He then wrapped his own arms around her and laid her back down, his face next to hers.

"Rest, Kiyoko. You'll want to wake up early tomorrow," he said.

"But that's the problem... I kind of can't..." she chuckled awkwardly.

Kurapika let go of her hesitantly and sat back up, brushing his hair away from his eyes. "I'll need to head back to my room soon for some sleep too. Just do your best to rest your yourself," he chuckled before kissing her quickly. "I'll, um, go now.." Kiyoko blushed and covered up her face, peeking through her fingers before turning away from Kurapika. "Y-yeah.. Okay, good night," she replied quickly.

Kurapika's cheeks were dusted with a light red color as he tried to calmly leave the room, saying another quick 'good night' and closing the door behind him. "How awkward. Very awkward. What the heck just happened..? I'm not dreaming, am I? Please, tell me I am!" she squeaked, hiding underneath the blanket.

"You're not," Kuromi sighed. A high pitched squeak came out of the speechless girl, her mouth opened to say something even though she was clearly failing. Kiyoko finally broke and was moaning loudly, rolling on the bed and she held her head, completely flustered. "I'm not infatuated, am I? There's no way that I am, please! Not now! This is not what I planned for in life... Well, I don't think I did! What is this feeling?! I tried to ignore it this entire time, but it's just there throbbing in my chest!" Kiyoko spoke quickly.

"You're in love," Kuromi mumbled. Kiyoko was now nervously sobbing to herself as she listened to herself answer all her denies. That was until she heard the airship parked outside turned start up and begin to take off. The girl shot up in bed and looked out the window, her personality immediately changing into a serious and less flustered person. "Someone is... taking the airship?" she said, dashing out of her room with everyone else.

The participants all made it outside to see both Banner and Genner boarded on the airship and leaving with all the treasures they turned in when they were out in broad daylight. They were now all mumbling to each other and shooting looks at the old couple, watching it slowly become smaller and disappear.

"I guess that shiver I got earlier was probably trying to tell me about this.." Kurapika said casually.

"This was exactly why I told you I didn't trust this place.. Something was bound to happen and now we're stranded on this half sunken ship..." Kuromi hissed.

"Everyone was fooled, it's quite too late to stop them even if we tried.." Kiyoko replied.

"Those old geezers... Just using us like that!" Leorio growled angrily. "You should at least be a little angry, Kurapika. They just took off and left us here!"

"We were all careless.." Killua added.

Gon was just gaping at the scene the entire time, watching the ship fly into the air. Kiyoko sighed and looked at the boys worriedly as they looked back and stared as well. Leorio ruffled her already messed up hair and pulled her over a little closer, still worried whether she was unfeeling well or not. Kuromi didn't do anything to stop the man like how she always did with the males in the group, but instead felt relaxed, which was quite an odd thing to feel in her case.

"Leorio," Kuromi called, earning a frightened look. "Take good care of Kiyoko. I should be resting now so that one of us can be active in the day." And with they, the girl disappeared and never said anything else.

"That's a promise," the man said, patting Kiyoko's back. "We all can't do anything right now, but it looks like we'll be waiting to see what happens next."

* * *

**Stormy: Man, oh man can't wait for my birthday... MY BROTHER IS VISITING, YESSSSSS! ;U;**

**Kiyoko: -Chuckles-**

**Gon: There's a poll on Stormy's profile! Don't forget to vote!**

**Killua: What is there to vote..?**

**Leorio: Just about what series she should write about after finish stuff.**

**Killua: Hm.**

**Kurapika: Is it a bit too early?**

**Stormy: It doesn't hurt to be early on some stuff..**

**Kurapika: True.. Suit yourself.**

**Stormy: Anyways... 3 WEEKS OF SCHOOL LEFT! Yes, I am breathing and alive, so no worries xD Thank you very much, Liz! My birthday is next week though, but yes, early thank you! xD Also, you're welcome! Glad to hear that you enjoy my updates as always! C:**

**Everyone: R&amp;R AND ENJOY!**

**_~stormy003_**


	18. Chapter 17

It was finally morning where everyone were now all dressed and waiting outside for both Genner and Banner's return with the airship. Of course Kiyoko couldn't bear to stay awake any longer since she wasn't able to sleep last night, covering up her mouth as she yawning silently and blinking sleepily. Leorio held up his hand to shade his eyes from the rising sun's sunlight and began to groan softly. It's been at least five hours ever since they left..." he stated. "Managers, yeah right... Who the hell would leave their guests stranded on a ship in the middle of nowhere just like that?"

"They would and they just did," Kiyoko said, rubbing her forehead lazily.

"Yeah, they also mooched off a bunch of money from all of us too," Tonpa added irritably. "Just who do they think they are and what the hell are the planning?"

"Well, it's not like we payed them with money," Kurapika pointed out. Tonpa looked up at the Kurta standing next to him and furrowed his brows just a tinge. "We paid with treasure just to get our stupid rooms in exchange! That's pretty much the same thing as paying up money!" the man exclaimed.

"Hey, you got that right. We can actually agree on something for once, Tonpa!" Leorio said brightly, turning around and smiling at the short rounded man.

"That doesn't make me happy at all..." he muttered, earning a glower from Leorio. Kiyoko yawned again and sighed as she messed up her hair even further. "Look, be happy that we had to pay with treasure we found scattered around this area. At least we didn't pay with our own pocket money," the girl stated with a frown. "We wouldn't even have enough to offer in the first place and we'll be broke." The two men just groaned and looked away from each other, crossing their arms together.

'These guys are like kids..' the girl thought, smiling softly to herself. Slumping forward a little, Kiyoko thought about the situation a little longer and wondered what they could do or what they should be doing to get off the island alive, no casualties involved. That was when her thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a blush as she took a glance at one of her friends she made during the exam. "I checked the manager's room just now," Hanzo began as he walked over to Leorio, "and they left behind all the treasures we found the day before."

"Do you think they forgot about it?" Gon asked. Twisting his back lightly to stretch out his limbs, Killua opened his mouth just a tiny bit in satisfaction before giving an answer. "What, of course not," Killua stated right after.

"Then they must have a reason to leave us behind with those treasures and this ship," the Kurta said as he looked into the situation more. Holding his hand up to his chin, he slightly tapped his foot once, twice and completely stopped as he thought even harder. "Do you think this is a part of the exam then?" Hanzo asked the boy.

Kiyoko was now falling over slowly, but she tried to keep herself awake and upright so she wouldn't crash into the floor or on anyone near her. Leorio noticed and chuckled as he motioned her to just lay down and sleep, only earning a pout while she complied to his silent order. The girl closed her eyes to rest, but she continued to listen in on the conversation they were holding.

"I'm not sure actually..." she heard Kurapika say. "We can't really assume that it is nor do we have enough information about this to conclude it."

It was silent for a while as everyone thought about their own worries or plainly just working out their bodies for the morning. "T-then who's going to cook for us?" Imori asked his siblings, breaking the silence. His brothers looked at him before one of them said anything. "Someone who can cook I guess," Amori replied. That answer only made everyone anxious as they looked around for decent cooks. "Wait, do we even have anyone like this in this group?" Umori asked.

Imori then concluded their answers into a quick, 'Well, we're starving to death here on this island then.' "And an added bonus as well, IT'S IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE!" he exclaimed.

"Just calm down already!" Hanzo grumbled. "We'll just catch fish to eat. But or actual problem here isn't the food supply... What I'm worried about is what we're going to do at this very moment."

Kiyoko was now officially knocked out once again, her hearing being blocked out by drowsiness and sleep. Leorio walked over to where she was resting and decided to give her a quick piggyback ride instead of leaving her on the hard floor. All he needed to do now was wait until Kuromi wakes up and take over the girl's body so she could start moving again. "How can she be such a baby at this time of the exam? Jeez, what a spoiled girl.." Tonpa suddenly complained. That only made the Kurta who stood near him and Leorio shooting him a deadly sharp glare, sending chills to his bones as he remembered what happened at Trick Tower. "I'm only stating the truth...?" the man squeaked.

"I think that's just stating you're own thoughts and opinions," Killua said as he swung his legs back and forth childishly. Gon nodded in agree meant as Kurapkia and Leorio looked at the two. 'He seems aware of Kiyoko's conditions.. I guess Gon told him just in case anything strange haappens, Kiyoko and Kuromi may not be too happy about that..' Kurapika thought, looking away from Tonpa. "Should we let her rest inside one of the rooms?"

Leorio shook his head and replied with a long yet simple sounding, 'I'm keeping an eye out for her sake and to maintain Kuromi's trust.' Kurapika stared for a bit, holding back the urge to hold up his hands to get her passed onto her, and then just gave a small nod. The man carrying the girl just grinned and whispered, 'I really don't want to get killed by you know who,' as Kurapika just rose a brow.

"Hey, wait! Guys, come over here for a moment!" Ponzu called as she ran out of the ship. Everyone aboard looked at the girl clad in pink and yellow curiously, wondering what was so important to be worth running out of the ship to announce for. Killua and Gon looked at each other for a second, hopping off from where they were perched on and walking over to the area where Ponzu stood waving. Leorio, Kurapika, and Hanzo decided to follow the younger boys and check out what was going on to whatever area they were all being led to as well. Kurapika awkwardly looked at Kiyoko's limp body as she rested on Leorio's back, sighing and giving up the urge to hold back.

Tapping Leorio's arm and earning his attention, Kurapika didn't say anything, but motioned at Kiyoko and asked him to pass her over. The man just smiled mischievously and crouched a little to get her into the Kurta's arm safely without having her to wake up. "Just pass her back over to me if you get tired," Leorio said after successfully giving Kiyoko to the teen. "Yeah, I'll keep that in mind," he replied with a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

The girl softly clutched at his blue and red tabard, but she didn't looked too relaxed. That only made him worry and wonder what she was dreaming of. Maybe it was about what she discussed with Kuromi yesterday night or it could be about something very different to what he thought it was. Hiding his fluster face, he looked around to see no one heeding any attention and pulled her closer to his body before muttering a few words near her ear. A temporary relaxed expression washed over her face, but he wonders how long that expression would last and slowed down his pace.

"Oi, Kurapika? Something the matter?" Leorio called from the front.

"No, I'll be there in a bit! Just go on ahead, I'll catch up," he replied. Shrugging at the Kurta's response, Leorio continued to follow the others down to where the a working radio was located. The odd thing was, the device didn't or just wasn't able to pick up any signal from anywhere else. Kurapika was still behind everyone as he check for any fast breathing from Kiyoko, any facial expression changes, fast pulse rate and heart beats, even her temperature again. Nothing was abnormal and her emotions were stable and calm, or so he thought. Sighing a breath of relief after confirming nothing was out of the ordinary with her, the boy smiled and gave a peck on her cheek before heading to the room where Gon and the others were located.

"Thank god you haven't gotten sick..." he said on the way over. "But I hope you aren't feeling traumatized or anything like that about your past. You always seem to be uncomfortable every single day around us even if you try to hide it. Not like hiding it would fool us all, we can still see that non-existent pain of yours surround you even when you're asleep or unconscious. It's way too obvious for your own good.." A part of him wanted Kiyoko to wake up and hear him tell her this, yet another part of him felt relieved that she wasn't awake to hear his mini lecture. What he wasn't aware off was that Kuromi was awake and listening in on his little conversation with the girl who was sleeping in his arms. 'He's right, you know, Kiyo? Just hiding your emotions won't do you any good, especially when you don't know how to cover up a lie for yourself well,' she suddenly spoke to herself. 'I don't think I'll take over just yet.. I'll be patient just this once.'

Kiyoko suddenly unconsciously snuggled up closer to the teen's body and smiled at his warmth that radiated onto her. Her lips suddenly parted a bit and it looked like she was trying to say something, her voice not being loud enough to hear. Becoming curious with her thoughts that continued to slip out of her mouth without any real intentions to let it out, Kurapika lowered his head to listen what she was saying and was able to catch a few words from her.

'-love you.' Those words only made him blush harder and wonder who it was for. Kuromi already knew who it was directed to and rolled her eyes as she tried to focus and wait for his reaction. "Kurapika, what's taking you so long?" Leorio called, peeking through the door. Snapping his head up to look at the man before he got suspicious the boy cleared his throat to calm down. Leorio noticed his face was tinted with pink, but played the game of obliviousness to avoid earning any anger from the Kurta. "It's nothing. Coming," the boy replied.

* * *

**Stormy: Pretty short chapter today, so sorry! But do enjoy! 2 MORE WEEKS OF SCHOOL! I don't think I will be able to update this following week and then the week after is my finals, but school ends on a Thursday. Probably starting Friday, May 29, I'll be cramming as many possible updates as I can to make it up to you guys. Look forward to the summer! **

**Kiyoko: Poll on Stormy's profile! Please remember to check it out and vote!**

**Kuromi: Yeah, yeah, yeah... Also, thanks for all the reviews. Very much appreciated.**

**Stormy: Hormonal teenager, hahaha! I laughed pretty hard when I read that xDD YES, SHE IS IN LURVEEEEE! What will she do? Will she reject? Will she slap him? Will she accept? Who knows...? I DO! Just kidding, I actually need to think about that, LOL. I'LL THINK ABOUT WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT WHEN I GET TO IT.**

**Everyone: Thanks for reading! R&amp;R and enjoy! **

**_~stormy003_**


	19. Chapter 18

"So it's not working or is it broken?" Gon asked as Pokkle rested his arms back onto the table.

"It's not broken. Just not... working like it should be doing so," he answered irritably. Pokkle looked over at the group as the pair of headphones drooped slowly onto his shoulders. Perching a brow like how everyone else would do, the male pointed and Kiyoko and asked, "So what's up with her? Homesick or just sick?" Kuromi growled from within and barked. 'Homesick? Ha! As if I was a wuss enough to run back home AFTER MAKING IT THIS FAR!' she exclaimed to herself. Kurapika only shrugged and gave a simple, "I can't tell you."

"And why not?" Ponzu added curiously. Gon and Killua looked at each other and then back to the other two who were not a part of their little group. "It'd be too personal," Killua waved nonchalantly.

"Yeah, and even if we could tell you we would keep quiet and let her say it instead," Gon added.

The participants just stared at each other for a good deadly silent minute and finally began to shift around again, trying to break the uncomfortable silence. "Anyways, this radio, it isn't picking up any channels to communicate with the outside world no matter how much we try," Ponzu explained. "It's like those two old people left us here on purpose, knowing what the hell is going on."

The group sighed and remained silent again. Gon perked up a little as he looked around curiously as if there was someone out there to murder him. 'Hey, did you here something strange just now?" he asked Killua. "No," the silver haired boy replied. Kurapika glanced behind him, noticing Geretta walking away from the room. It seemed that the colored man had been listening on them and using the information to fabricate a plan, his own plan.

"Let's just split up and look for any other odd evidence on this ship," Hanzo suggested. "And also, Kurapika, you might want to set the girl down during this time around. She'll just slow you down or so." Kurapika's facial expression remained the same, calm, collected, and a little deadpanned, as he gave a nod to the bald ninja. "Don't worry about her. Kiyoko will be fine if she remains here," Ponzu said as she adjusted her large yellow hat. "We'll keep trying and get this radio to start working again." Everyone gave a nod to each other and began to separate from the room to start their search.

'Damn this.. Does that mean if I take over now, I'll have to act like Kiyo? How troubling..' the girl spat.

* * *

After a few more minutes of twisting and turning on the knobs of the radio, Pokkle was still unable to fine tune it to a certain channel and get it connected to another place. Kuromi slightly messed up her hair and sighed, deciding to just take over. It seems like she had a bad feeling about something around the location they were all stranded at as well. Groaning and stretching out her limbs, physically visible now of course, Kuromi opened her eyes and looked up at Ponzu who was know smiling down at her.

"Oh, so you're awake now! How are you feeling?" the girl asked. Kuromi blinked at this and was about to answer with her usual snarky attitude, stopping herself before it happened. "I'm alright, thank you. Just very tired and... weak," she said, cringing to herself. "What's going on right now?" The girl positioned herself to get herself back onto her feet and leaned against the wall.

"Well, ever since Banner and Genner left, everyone began to panic..." Ponzu began. "Pokkle and I found this radio here, but it seems to not be working strangely enough." Kuromi nodded and looked over at Pokkle who was clearly focused on the device. He sighed again and began to rest his arms once more. "Ponzu, I think this radio isn't going to work unless we have a natural disaster happen... It may affect the pressure in the air and suddenly power this thing up, but.."

Ponzu looked back behind her and nodded. "That may never happen at the least.. But it also may suddenly happen out of the blue."

"It doesn't look like it will.. You saw the sky out earlier right?" Kuromi asked the two. "The sky didn't have anything strange looming around like dark clouds while the sun is out or suddenly moist air while it's burning hot outside.. Felt like a normal day.." Pokkle stretched and went back to fiddling with the device in front of him as he hummed to himself. "But then again, this place feels unpredictable don't you both think?"

Kuromi remained silent and then released a soft, "Yes, it is," before she went out of the room for a second. Her tail and ears faintly appeared on her as she allowed a part of the beast to come out and take over her appearance. Closing her eyes and taking in her surroundings by her senses, the faint noise Gon heard earlier was now accessible for her to listen in as well. 'That kid sure has good hearing...' the girl muttered. 'Should never doubt him..' The long white ears and deadly looking tail then disappeared a little later, allowing herself to walk back into the room casually.

"Well they seem panicked.." the girl told the two. Pokkle and Ponzu looked over at the girl and blinked. "Is there a reason why?" Ponzu asked. Kuromi thought about what she hear nearby and then simply said, "Panicked for not being able to leave this place."

"Well that's understandable. Everyone is dreading upon that reason..." Pokkle stated as Kurapika entered the room.

"Oh, you're awake," he said, knowing who it was. "Tired or anything?" Kuromi's hand twitched a little and held herself back from hitting the boy behind her. "Not at all. I'm fine." The Kurta nodded and then looked back at Pokkle. "Any success on connecting?"

"No, nothing has changed.. I give up with this already... My arm feels like it'll break off if I keep this up any longer." He took of the headphones and looked straight into the Kurta's eyes, completely serious and at a loss of hope. "It'll only start working if a storm of some sort comes and hit this place. It'll be enough to at least change up the electromagnetic waves and pressure to actually make this radio start up again. But if that did happen..."

"Please don't joke around with such a serious event..." Kurapika said nervously.

'So he's beginning to break also.. Huh..' Kuromi thought. As Kurapika walked out, Kuromi turned around and gave a small bow as if saying 'thank you' before following the boy. Both Ponzu and Pokkle smiled at her and watched them both leave. "That girl is so different compared to the others we've seen," Pokkle suddenly said. "Hm," was all Ponzu was able to muster up from her throat.

"Hey, Cat Face!" Kuromi called, completely changed. "Kurapika!" The boy looked over and rose an eyebrow, not stopping to chitchat. "What is going on out there?" she asked with a frown. "You can check for yourself. For now everyone is in need to look for clues and evidences left behind on this ship."

"Then why are there people suddenly leaving? A majority even," Kuromi added.

Kurapika showed the piece of paper, a map, he found earlier about their location and frowned. "It seems that we're near Zevil Island. There are those who want to get out to that island as quickly as possible, but they aren't being cautious about this entire circumstance like a few of us. How about you, Kuromi? How are you going act in this? With caution? Or without a second thought?" Kuromi frowned and looked away. "Do you actually think I'm stupid enough to leave right at this moment? I sense something strange going on. You can say... a gutty feeling or even animal instincts."

"And I trust you'll help us get out of this mess?" he asked.

"Fortunately for you, yes.. Not like I have a damn choice." Kurapika chuckled at this and pat her shoulder before walking off again. "I'm heading to the navigation room so if you need anything, look for me there." He then left the girl alone, allowing her personal space and just ignoring her for the time being. Instead of screaming her lungs out to her heart's content at the Kurta, she only looked at his leaving figure and rested her hand at the place he patted her shoulder at. 'Is he trying to annoy me? Or get on my good side?' she thought disappointingly. 'I think both.'

* * *

The search continued for hours and hours until the sun began to slowly dip back down into the horizon, coloring the blue sky with yellow, orange, red, and tinges of pink. Kuromi looked around again to see if anyone was near and hid out in the open where no one could see her, allowing her ear and tail pop back up again. She began scanning the area as quickly as possible looking for anymore evidence dealing with any abnormal weather problems or so. There were people trying to set up boats for their escape and the ocean, of course, but then something else caught her eyes and matched that irritating noise she can hear through her animal ears. They soon disappeared as she sighed and quickly headed back to the navigation room for the information.

'Kuro? Is something the matter?' Kiyoko asked as she woke up.

"I have a bad feeling about this place. That's all," she replied. Kiyoko nodded slowly and then asked another question right after. 'Is it about the weather?'

"Quit searching through my thoughts already," she mumbled.

"You're too easy to read when you're worried. You're heading to the navigation room, right?' Kiyoko chuckled. Kuromi rolled her eyes and smiled a little at herself, replying with a nod. "There's nothing else for us to do, really.." she said calmly. "Just survive."

When they entered the room it seemed as though there was a meeting of some sort going on between the group she stuck with and Hanzo. The remaining applicants in the room looked over to see Kuromi enter casually and stared. "Look, Ku- Kiyoko!" Gon said, stopping from naming Kuromi out loud. "Killua and I found a book!"

"A logbook it seems," Killua specified.

"A logbook?" Kuromi asked innocently.

"Yes, the ship's logbook contains the information of what is to come next..." Kurapika said seriously looking back at the book.

'I want to interrupt this reallyyyyyy bad right now...!' she growled in her head.

'I'm sorry I'm so different from you,' Kiyoko giggled in response as the others communicated with Ponzu and Pokkle through a speaking tube. 'But I think he caught on already.. Look.'

Everyone was staring out at the window, nervous and stiff as they noticed the mentioned abnormality in the book the Kurta held in his hands. A seagull suddenly rammed itself blindly into the window in front of Leorio, causing him to back away a little. "The birds... are clearly frightened..." Gon said.

"The horizon is beginning to distort itself...!" Kurapika stated, completely shocked. The sky grew dark as Kuromi got closer to Gon and Killua to see the image herself. "This is why I'm in here right now... We weren't able to see it earlier, but something is coming this way. Something big.." Kuromi warned. Gon suddenly leaned towards the window a lot closer than he needed to as he exclaimed, "I hear that noise again! It's... coming from out at sea, think!"

"Huh..?" Killua said.

"It's that noise I told you about!"

Kuromi tapped at Killua's shoulder and pointed at her ears, indicating him to listen as closely as he could. The boy just tuned back out front and closed his eyes, trying to look from the sound his friend was able to catch.

"I hear it now too..! It's very faint-"

"But it was a lot fainter earlier than now," Gon cut in. "It certainly has got closer!" Everyone in the room was now trying to listen in on the phenomenon though no one was able to hear a single sound. "Are you sure, Gon?" Leorio asked confusedly.

"Leorio, don't doubt the boy," Kuromi said, looking over her shoulder. Leorio soon caught on why she'd say that and looked back out the window until Kurapika began reading out of a page in the logbook. "Fourth of July, a strange atmospheric disturbance... The signs were detected right on the spot, so we began preparations to evacuate from the area. The brigade will abandon said post and flee first thing in the morning tomorrow. Predictions show that the first storm front will hit at dusk tomorrow," the Kurta read as began to furrow his eyebrows. "Before it does... "

"First storm front? What is this supposed to be about?!" Leorio snapped all of a sudden. Kurapika didn't answer, but continued on reading the book. "Just as predicted, this phenomenon happens once every ten years," he finished. The noise was not clearly audible, but a few people were now able to hear it along with Gon. Everyone looked around anxiously and it seems like the people outside were finally finished and beginning to depart. They decided to run out and get a glimpse of what was happening outside up close, but Kuromi decided to head into the higher area of the ship and stay there for a little. "Kiyoko, we need to switch soon and are you feeling alright?" she asked.

'I'm alright and I'll be fine, don't worry,' she said calmly as they switched. Kiyoko looked outside to see the others scattered around looking for ropes and getting ready for rescue as Gon popped out of the water and climbed into the boat Geretta sailed in. 'Troubling people..' Kuromi growled as Kiyoko ran outside to help. Grabbing the extra bit of rope the others had left behind them, the girl quickly helped everyone pull in the two boats out at sea and get those on board to safety. Abandoning the boats, the applicants all ran back into the ship before the storm got even worse and caught them as well. The wind has gotten too strong and for anyone to actually stand or even pop their head outside for a look. The ship was shaking and every object outside the storm could pick up began to break and fly off to who knows where.

"All we can do now... is wait.."Hanzo said, looking around to see everybody's frightened faces. Kiyoko looked at Gon and Killua who were quite soaked from being out on the water and then at Leorio who was just looking at the floor. The girl turned over to see Kurapika, a serious face taking over his once again, and then decided it was best to just remain silent. The tension in the room was quite high and it felt very uncomfortable in her opinion. 'Kuromi... Switch please.. No one is looking and I feel uncomfortable here,' the girl thought.

'If you say so.'

* * *

**Stormy: Multitasking at it's finest! Harharhar! Lol, I need to catch up in life since I've been buried in school work for so long. So yep, typing this story up and watching anime at the same time. Thank god I don't need to look at the keyboard while I do this, but I end up typing up gibberish because of THE DANG SUBTITLES, AUUGHHHH! Haha, oh well anyways ONE MORE WEEK(3 DAYS IN TOTAL) AND SCHOOL IS OUTTTTTTT! Still need to do homework though -sob-**

**Kiyoko: Poll on profile! Please vote!**

**Stormy: Thanks for the reviews!**

**Everyone: Thanks for reading! R&amp;R and enjoy! **

**_~stormy003_**


	20. Chapter 19

"It looks like that storm is clearing out now..." Leorio stated as everyone headed back outside.

"Oh man..." Tonpa said breathlessly. "Is it really over?"

Before anyone was able to ask a question or even relax Kurapika pulled out the book and flipped to the same page as earlier. "But we shouldn't get careless just yet. There's another one coming and it's only a day away. This next one will be..." he trailed off as he looked up the ship. That only made everyone else look up with him and have anxiety wash all over their bodies and minds. "A-are you telling us that the tides will suddenly raise up to that level?" Leorio asked.

"No," he bluntly said. "Withing twenty-four hours from now, all you see here will be underwater."

'Underwater, he says.. That's dangerous, especially when everyone here is still stranded...' Kiyoko said.

'Well, we can prevent getting caught in the storm, but we can't prevent it from stopping now, can we?' Kuromi asked herself before heading closer to the group. Apparently, the sun was already about to come back up which indicated their loss of time. Everyone was now making guesses with how much time they all have left before the storm hit the ship again. "I believe we only have twenty-two hours left before the next storm hits us," Leorio said.

"Then that'll be our official time limit," Kurapika said as he looked behind him.

"If we exceed that time limit we have and stay here, we'll all dead. goners," Hanzo stated.

"Then we just have to get ourselves over to Zevil Island somehow before it comes," the Kurta replied.

"But that's the problem. HOW?!" Leorio asked.

"There's no escape. We already tried water and by air, but non of them worked at all," Geretta reminded everyone. "We'll just end up getting caught into the storm that way too."

"There's just not a single ship here that will withstand the water's current during the storm," one of the Amori brothers said.

"YES! THERE IS ONE!" Gon suddenly exclaimed, earning everyone's attention. The boy was waving his arm up in the air trying to indicate where he was from above with Killua standing behind him. "Gon?" Kurapika called curiously.

"C-CAREFUL NOT TO FALL OFF!" Kuromi exclaimed when she saw him leaning over the railing. The boy then gave a quick nod and got off the rail into a safer spot before telling everyone what was in his mind. "We have this ship RIGHT HERE!" he said.

Everyone went quiet until Leorio broke the silence with, "GON, DON'T BE SILLY! THIS THINK IS JUST A HUNK OF JUNK! A SCARP OF METAL!" Kuromi looked at Leorio and rose a brow, an uninterested look taking over her face. "Leorio, don't doubt the kids. You know what happens if you do."

* * *

"The engine is still working?" Kurapika asked curiously.

"Well that that is checked... Do you think this ship is still capable of moving off further across the sea?!" Leorio asked doubtfully.

"How should I know? Don't ask me," Killua said irritably. Kuromi crossed her arms as she rolled her eyes and glared at Leorio just as annoyed. 'You know, you are very annoying at the moment...' she muttered, low enough for Leorio to hear.

"Haah?!" he exclaimed. Kurapika groaned and rested his head into his hand so he didn't lash out on the two. "No, there is a chance that it will move. We may get out of here alive if we can make this afloat and break free. Everything must goes smoothly though."

'Easier said than done,' Leorio grumbled. Kuromi closed her eyes and tilted her head downward to hide her twisted up face, her fingers curling up into a ball. 'How about quit complaining...?' Kiyoko sighed as she tried to recover a little more of her strength due to laying for so long when she fainted. 'Calm down, Kuromi, you'll just make it worse...'

"That sounds like a plan," Ponzu said.

"We're switching gears now, huh?" Hanzo said approvingly. "Instead of running away from said fort, we're running WITH the fort. This HAS to be the objective of this phase."

"Our problem now is whether or not we can get everything together and finished before it comes and hit us," Kurapika said has he turned around. "We'll all spread out around this ship and check the condition of everything thoroughly for our escape. Report here within one hour!" Kiyoko wasn't registering in anything through her head as she listened to everyone talk. After all, everything happened while she was unconscious or just plainly tired to the point where she forgot. 'What's going on again?' she asked herself.

'The storm, remember? There's going to be another one soon so everyone is getting ready to escape the area,' Kuromi repeated as she walked off.

'I see..'

* * *

As time continued to pass by, the applicants all set out to split up and check out the ship and it's conditions, from the devices to the engines, anything that will help them get out of the area and across the ocean to Zevil Island. An hour has passed and everyone was reunited in the control room once again, but this time, Hanzo had a blueprint on him.

"You found the ships blueprint?!" Leorio asked as everyone scanned the page.

"Yeah and it's manual."

"Okay then, we should start listing up things we need to check as carefully as possible," Kurapika said.

"But first, we need to see if we can get the ship loose from all the rocks surround it," Hanzo pointed out. "We can dislodge the hull and sides without a problem, I believe." A man with a giant red nose suddenly approached the ninja and gave off a smirk. "Are we using explosives?" he asked.

"Wait. Wait, who are you?" Hanzo asked awkwardly.

"I'm Kyu," he replied smugly. "I'm an expert in handling explosives. There's still plenty of ordnance on this ship and they should be good of use."

"But then our problem will now be set on the bow," the ninja said. "It's stuck in that giant pile of rocks. And to blow it out of our way and get it free, we'll need a lot of ammo for such a thing."

"Then we'll use the ship's gun turret for this job," Kurapika stated.

"This rusty ship's?" Killua asked. It was now his turn to ask whether such a thing would work or fail miserably. 'Oh look, Leorio's worries has finally rubbed off on someone,' Kuromi snickered.

"Well if we had a steady barrage of each of the four cannons.." the Kurta said. By then, Kuromi was just drowning out all the information she thought was boring and pointless for her to listen to. Of course she didn't need to work the cannons or anything. Or so she thought. But then again, both Yukimuras don't actually have any experience with cannons before. All she knows now is that they're going to try and break free from the rocks with the canon, make sure everything works, and get a move on across the ocean to safety.

But then what about the engine room? We don't know where it is," Pokkle suddenly added. Hanzo looked back at the map and pointed at where the engine room was located on the ship. Right here, though it's passageway is flooded."

"Then we'll just travel through the air ducts from C-deck from there," he replied.

"Alright then, Pokkle and I will go. Just to be safe, we'll also take Kiyoko," Ponzu said. "We may need an extra hand hand we can also watch over her in case anything happens."

'Why... Why me...' Kuromi thought.

"I believe we have to displace as much water flooded into the hull back to the stern for some balance in the ship," Hanzo said, trailing his finger on the map. "The front of the ship was fixed up to become a hotel, so.."

"The weight is uneven now?" Kuromi asked. Hanzo nodded in response and drew a circle with his finger at the front of the ship on the map. "Don't forget about the seaweed that grew and tangled up onto the propellers of the ship."

"I suggest we blow a hole into the storage house," Kyu proposed. "That way the water can flow in evenly."

"Then Killua and I will take the job of removing the seaweed from the propellers!" Gon jumped in. "Right?" The boy turned over and looked at Killua as a look of disapproval crossed his face. "What? Sounds like a lot of work to me...!" he groaned.

"Let's do it! Come on, Killua!" Gon encouraged the boy.

"Alright, fine..." he mumbled. Hanzo sighed at the two before speaking. "Anyways, those are our current problems that we all have to deal with," he said.

"Now let's move," Kurapika ordered.

"Do you think we'll get all of this finished before the next storm front?" Leorio asked the Kurta.

"Well, we don't have a choice now, do we?" he replied. "Everyone here will need to work together to complete these tasks if you want to live. And it's also the only way to get to the island."

"Alright then.." Leorio said. "Let's go everyone and get to work!"

'Bossy guys..' Kuromi grumbled as they all ran off to their assigned locations.

'Better than having carefree leaders,' Kiyoko countered.

* * *

Ponzu, Pokkle, and Kuromi climbed into the vent located it the C-deck and began to crawl over to where the engine room was located. No one said a thing to each other, but Kuromi and Kiyoko were secretly having a conversation mentally in which the other two had no idea about.

'I know Leorio-san said that there was an underwater storage, but do you think he'll be okay?' Kiyoko asked.

'Now it's your turn to doubt people? Seriously, this guy rubs off on everyone..!' Kuromi thought. 'He'll be fine, Kiyoko. You just have to believe in everyone's ability for this including your own.'

'How supportive of you this time around,' she replied. 'Very indifferent... Say, are you finally changing your attitude?'

'As if!' the girl screamed. It was a good thing she didn't say it out loud or Pokkle and Ponzu would of had some questions for her to answer. 'Don't worry. I won't tell any of them. It is your job to tell them how you feel after all, not mine,' Kiyoko giggled.

'Ugh whatever.'

Pokkle kicked open the vent cover and slipped into the room without any trouble, moving out of the way for Ponzu and Kuromi to drop in as well. The three looked around and stared at the room before locking their eyes on a giant steam turbine engine. "D-do we even have enough fuel for this...?" Ponzu asked.

"If this thing doesn't move, we'll all drown and end up at the bottom of the ocean..." Pokkle concluded.

"Well standing here to think won't do us any good," Ponzu said.

"We should start the inspections then," Kuromi said as they all walked closer to the engine.

Time passed by quickly as everyone worked and worked without rest, getting rid of things they didn't need, fixing up devices that seemed to stop working, and trying to even out the water on the ship. Kuromi suddenly stopped tinkering with the engine and remained stiff. Ponzu noticed and walked over to the girl giving her a quick pat on the shoulder. "Is something the matter?" she asked curiously. Kuromi stood up straighter and looked around the room as if she was outside the ship.

"Sorry if that scared you," Ponzu said.

"No, that's not the problem... The storm is coming a lot quicker than I have expected.." she announced earning Pokkle's attention as well. "I.. can hear it.. getting closer."

"This isn't good.. And the engine isn't ready yet!" he said, trying to pick up the pace.

'Pokkle, Ponzu, Kuromi! What's the status on the engine?!' Kurapika exclaimed hurriedly.

"Pokkle! Where are we at?" Ponzu asked.

"It's almost ready!" he replied.

"Did you get that?" Ponzu asked the Kurta.

"I got the power circuiting to where the guns are," Kuromi told the two.

"Okay, we found a way to send power to the guns. Now let's just hope that we can get the engine to work and run successfully," Ponzu said.

'Alright. We'll start the countdown,' Kurapika said.

"Pokkle, Ponzu, I'll go check up on the canon rooms and see if there's any trouble going on. I have a feeling something might go wrong," Kuromi said, running back to the vent. "Can you two handle the rest from here?"

Pokkle and Ponzu looked at the girl, but nodded in response, allowing her free from the room. Pokkle ran over to the girl and allowed her to use his hands as a stepping stool to boost herself up without exceeding too much energy and ran back to check on the engine.

'Hope nothing bad does happen like what she said..' Ponzu said quietly.

'It'll only cause more trouble,' Pokkle added.

The girl traveled back the way she came from and hopped out of the small space, stretching herself out before running off to the cannon room.

'Gon went after Leorio, so don't worry about that, but look outside!' Kuromi heard Hanzo say. 'The waterspout is beginning to close in! You can estimate the time we've got left judging by the speed it's going at! The command of operation will be left at you're hands! Killua and I are going to handle the cannons!'

'What the...' she thought, stopping and running to the ninja. It looked like he's finished contacting the Kurta in the main part of the ship and was now dragging Killua with him. "Kuromi," Killua said. The boy grunted and looked away in a displeased manner before grabbing her hand and running off after Hanzo. "I'm sure you're aware of what happened just now?"

The girl frowned and looked behind her before look back at the boy. "Look, I feel that this is going to effect Kurapika so you should go check on him before this entire operation fails."

"And you're now telling me to babysit him?" Kuromi asked. Killua frowned at her response and stopped running, swinging her arm away from him. "I'm not here to listen to you whine or anything." That only tick Kuromi off, but her expression faltered a little into hurt as she knew she was being as moody as she could ever be at the wrong time. "Fine, I'll check on him. Now hurry up and don't leave Hanzo waiting for you," the girl said, pointing at the ninja who waved his arm.

'Hurry up, Killua!' he called.

The girl left the two males and looked for where Kurapika was at, grumbling to herself as she wondered where Gon and Leorio were and if they were safe. 'I hope everything is fine... We haven't been really lucky lately..' Kiyoko said. It was taking way longer for her to look for the boy than to actually help fix up things in the rooms, but she had to do what Killua told her to do.

Kuromi finally busted into the room the Kurta she was looking for was located in after getting lost so many times on the giant ship due to panic. It was almost time for the cannon to shoot and she was aware of it, staying close to the side as she traveled up to Kurapika. "I know you're worried, but you're clearly dozing off now. That'll affect everyone if you don't get you head out of the clouds," she growled, snapping him back to reality. But as soon as he came back he immediately dozed off again, completely scared and worried about both Gon and Leorio. It was a good thing she wasn't very clear to everyone else, she'd feel uncomfortable.

'We can't wait any longer!' Hanzo called. 'The shells won't work if the cannons get soaked! Kurapika! We have to fire now! Kurapika!' Kuromi growled in anger as she stomped over and grabbed the boy's arm before landing a hard slap across his face, a red mark coloring in his left cheek. "Worrying will do us no good. We're all going to die if you're not going to snap out of it soon. There is no second chance in a situation like this, but those two will be fine," she said in a shaky tone. He was now staring at her, completely shocked as Killua suddenly took over to send him a message. 'Kurapika! Gon and Leorio! They're okay! They're coming back up!' he exclaimed.

That allowed him to get back to himself completely as he ran back to the front and check up on the cannons and the storm. "I-I understand!" he said, ignoring the pain Kuromi inflicted on him. "All stations, we'll fire in exactly thirty seconds! Target is the rock surrounding the bow at twelve o'clock!"

Kuromi sighed and then left the room running over to the cannon room as quickly as possible. Slamming the door wide open and checking up on everything with Hanzo, the girl panted heavily as she looked around to see everything in place. "He's coming," she said, smiling a little. "It's a promise. They'll be fine."

Killua smiled at the girl and decided to relax a little, waiting for the sudden concussion the cannons will give off. The countdown began, tension slowly filling up the ship again and weighing down everybody's mind. 'FIVE! FOUR! THREE! TWO! ... FIRE!' he ordered. The cannons went off ad the ship began to shake and jolt violently as everyone ran around to check for damage and prepare for the ext shot. No damage has been set to the damage, thankfully enough and the next shell was now set into place. Kuromi stood up after the shaking stopped and sighed in relief, when the first barrage was a success.

A few more shots were ordered and the ship was starting to move with the help of the cleaned off propellers and cannon shots. Sailing out further across the sea the ship began to go wild and shake violently, causing people to go unstable and hang onto the closest thing to them. Unfortunately for Kurapika, he was knocked out cold without anyone actually knowing it. "What happened?!" Hanzo exclaimed.

"We probably hit a rock on the way out," Killua stated. "After all, you saw how covered it was with rocks."

"He may be right," Kuromi said, standing up from the floor. Feeling the ship lean over to the side dangerously, the ninja immediately reported the ship's status to the unconscious teen. "Kurapika! The ship is starting to lean and the storm isn't helping us!" Hanzo exclaimed. "We're going to have to overturn if we don't do something quick! Kurapika!"

Kiyoko groaned worriedly and silently told Kuromi to go check up on the boy again. 'But it's unsafe!' Kuromi argued.

'Just this once! Something must have happened when the ship suddenly jolted!' the girl said.

'Okay fine! We'll go immediately,' Kuromi sighed, as she ran off again. 'You know, that slap kind of stung...'

'Your fault for hitting hard,' Kiyoko muttered. The ship jolted again when the cannons fired, making her go unsteady, but Kuromi switched with Kiyoko and continued to run until she made it to the bridge. Just as she suspected, the boy was unconscious, but there was another figure guiding the boat to safety, one she has never seen before. She then remembered about the unconscious boy and went up to him to see blood trickling down his face.

"Don't worry, he's fine," the man with long black hair said. "Just a minor injury." Kiyoko looked up and slowly nodded as the person continued to guide the boat to safety.

It was finally bright out again as Kiyoko continued to wait for Kurapika to wake up. The boy groaned in pain and began to move, holding his head in his palm from the collision he had during the storm. Kiyoko felt him shifting around and opened her eyes to check on him, seeing him blink to try and get a clear vision of what was going around him.

"Oh, you're okay!" she sighed, helping him up to his feet.

The boy trailed his fingers around the white bandages wrapped around his head, then to his cheek and looked over his shoulder only to flinch as well as try to block the light. "Is it... over?" he suddenly asked curiously. Kiyoko nodded and pointed out the door where Hanzo was standing, looking out into the sea with a smile on his face. Kurapika headed out, but had to block some of the sunlight to see where he was going, lowering it down after he got used to it. 'At least he didn't hit his head hard enough to have amnesia,' Kuromi stated, a sign she was relieved with the results as well. An airship suddenly appeared over where they all were now located at, the applicants curiously looking up. "I guess this was only the beginning of the next phase.." Kiyoko mumbled.

* * *

**Stormy: Sorry for late update! I'm at home alone and my internet kept disconnecting! More work for me.. -sob-**

**Kiyoko: Poll on profile, don't forget!**

**Kuromi: Ohohohohoh, I really, really wanted to slap that bastard!**

**Stormy: Well you got your chance and you did...**

**Everyone: Thank you for reading and stuff! R&amp;R and enjoy!**

**_~stormy003_**


	21. Chapter 20

"Congratulations to all the applicants who's on board with me at this moment! I'll be your guide until we get to Zevil Island. My name is Khara!" a tall woman with cat looking eyes said.

'All we need to do is to keep our tag from being stolen away from us...' Kuromi reminded Kiyoko. Pressure was slowly building up in the girl as anxiety took over her mind once again. 'I feel eyes digging and stabbing into the back of my head and body...' Kiyoko thought nervously. 'I feel like they're all aiming for me..'

"I happen to have some great news for you all! You're all qualified for next year's exam meaning that you are all invited to attend the hunter exam once again! So if you fail this year's examination, please feel free to attend next year's!" the woman, Khara, said as she slowly lowered her voice hesitantly. Smiling brightly at everyone only made her feel uncomfortable as everyone remained quiet and stared at her intensely. "... This is just depressing..." she muttered. "The trip to the island will be about two hours so please relax on the way there.. Feel free to do what you all like.."

Khara waved to everyone and awkwardly left, feeling uncomfortable with the tension that was created by everyone. Again, all the applicants disbanded from each other once more. Kiyoko groaned to herself, wanting the entire exam to be over already, but there are two phases left for everyone to complete. Kuromi on the other hand was anxious to get the next phase to actually start already and spar with a few of the challengers when she gets the chance to. Wandering around the ship by herself, Kiyoko spotted one person Kuromi wished she didn't have to see again until possibly the final phase or never see again. Hisoka looked over curiously with his usual smile plastered across his lips. Kiyoko flinched, but immediately relaxed once she took a deep breath and headed over to the man.

"Uh, hello," Kiyoko greeted politely.

"Hello," he replied. "And what brings you here? Looking for someone to end your life?" His smile only grew bigger as Kiyoko's face became pale and Kuromi's became red with anger. "Relax, Dolly, I was joking." Kiyoko didn't reply as she slowly calmed down herself. "You're that special person everyone needs to hunt down, yes?" he suddenly asked. "There's no need to hide it. I remember your tag vividly especially after Trick Tower's phase."

"And what if I was...?" she asked cautiously. "Are you going to try and hunt me..?"

The man chuckled to himself and he quickly gave his lips a lick which sent shivers down Kiyoko's, heck, even Kuromi's spines. 'Disgusting...' Kuromi groaned, rubbing her hands on her arms to tame her growing goose bumps. "Maybe I will, maybe I won't.. I wouldn't be saying anything to an enemy if I were you."

"But what if I said you aren't an enemy? Or not just yet at the least..." Kiyoko replied.

"Then I'll reply with 'How credulous of you,'" he said casual.

"I'm credulous alright and I'm not afraid to admit that." Kiyoko smiled and hid her uncomfortable state of mind from the man. "It's funny that you say that, but you're sitting here talking to me anyways."

"Because I believe that you're still not capable of killing or even land a hit on me just yet," he said nonchalantly. "Do you not agree?"

'Why that irritating clown...!' Kuromi growled.

"No, I agree with you alright,' Kiyoko replied, sticking out her hand. "I don't think you'll need it especially from a person like me, but good luck, Hisoka... -san.." Hisoka stared at her hand and smirked to himself as he accepted her gesture. "You're too amiable for your own good, Kiyoko."

"Or so I am," the girl said again before turning away to leave.

* * *

The ship finally arrived to the island and waited for further instructions to start the phase. "Thank you for being patient with us!" Khara said as the wooden walking plank was pulled out. "Now I'd like you all to set off for the next phase in the same order you finished the last phase. You will all wait for two minutes as you all leave for the island one by one!"

"Can't we just start already?"Leorio groaned impatiently.

Kiyoko only shook in her spot as she looked around nervously, knowing everyone will focus on mainly their target and her. Gon noticed and just gave a small tug on her arm and shooting a quick smile at her which managed to calm her down a little. The girl bent down a little and began to whisper nervously. 'You noticed? Sorry about that,' she said. The boy quickly shook her head. 'I think I'd react the same way at first too,' he said quietly. 'But I still kind of am in a somewhat similar situation as you.'

'Really?' she asked curiously. Gon nodded and whispered into her ear as her eyes slightly widened in surprise. 'Careful out there alright, Gon?' Kiyoko said. The boy just smiled and nodded at her in response. 'You too, Kiyoko.'

Everyone began to depart one by one, Hisoka being second to leave and Kiyoko being third. That only left her wondering why Gittarackur didn't pick the tag first since he was the very first one to finish the tower. The girl began to look around for hiding spots and dashed around when she was far enough for no one to see where she ran off too.

"Kuromi.. Are you... ready for this?" Kiyoko asked as she ran further into a closed off area that was surrounded by tall trees.

'Of course I am! Finally get to become active..!' she replied.

"Er... Not really. Just don't kill us," the tamed girl said as she leapt up into the trees.

'That won't happen anytime soon,' Kuromi said cockily.

* * *

**Stormy: Sorry! Been practicing art and updating requests! I'll work more on this story tomorrow along with my Megaman SF story. **

**_~stormy003_**


	22. Chapter 21

"Day one on Zevil Island... I'm stuck in a tree not knowing what to do nor if I will last... There's possible fruits and animals I can hunt to survive when it comes to food, but what I'm not concern of is... living without being caught..." Kuromi announced dramatically. Kiyoko rolled her eye as Kuromi joked around with herself and scanned the field for anyone who comes. "Sometimes, I wonder whether you're having fun or just plain having fun," Kiyoko said twice.

"Oh, I think I'll pick... Option one. Of course I'm having fun! That proctor even said we can kill, remember?" the violent side of the girl pointed out. Kiyoko wanted to nod, but Kuromi was still looking around for any victims to come. "Yeah, I remember... But I really, reallyyyy don't think you should actually try to kill. What if we fail to and they come kill us instead? We don't even need to steal anyone's tag!" Kiyoko said worriedly. "Our tag is worth six points and that's our ticket to pass. Just.. Don't lose it.." Kuromi groaned and took off her tag to pin it to her black top underneath her blue shirt. "You worry too much.." A dart was suddenly heard whizzing over to her, but the girl managed to dodge it quickly before it impaled her body. Pulling out her staff she began to carefully scan the area again only to have another dart fly over to her at high speed. It looked like it came from the bushes below from where she was.

"We've been found.. Finally.." Kuromi told Kiyoko as she whacked the sharp weapon away with her staff. Kiyoko sighed and took over completely as she leapt off the from the branch she was on and into the plants below. 'Damn it...' Geretta muttered to himself. Staying low so he wasn't exposed the man popped up his head slightly above the surface to check only to see nothing. What he didn't know was that the girl was able to silently trail over to him without being noticed. Kiyoko suddenly jabbed her staff into the center of his spine forcefully causing him to bend back far and drop to his knees. The man suddenly swung his giant blowgun behind him, but missed the girl by an inch before she kicked him down to the floor. Her leg was grabbed quickly before she was able to take of as Geretta stood back up and tried shooting another dart at her.

'Kuromi, take over," Kiyoko said as she immediately switched out with herself. Kuromi, being the one who possess more strength thank Kiyoko, pushed her lower half up and kicked Geretta's heavy looking weapon away from his grasp. Swinging her leg back down and making contact with his head, the girl managed to break free from his grip on her ankle and rolled over to the blowgun. 'I don't even know how to use this thing...' Kuromi thought nervously. 'Oh well..' Instead of using a dart to attack the man who was now on his feet and aiming to get the gun back, Kuromi switched back to Kiyoko so she could get behind him without being caught. "Good night!" Kiyoko said as she switched back to Kuromi and swung the bigger side of his gun to the back of his head. Geretta groaned and fell unconscious after the impact he earned from the back. The girl walked over to him and grabbed his tag before she threw it off somewhere so he could look for it after, hoping it'd land somewhere dangerous or a hard looking place. "I'm going to hide this somewhere too..." Kuromi muttered as she took off and looked at the weapon she picked up. "I have no use for it especially if we don't know how to use this thing."

'Our body feels like it's beginning to slow down...' Kiyoko suddenly pointed out. 'Quickly, we need to find another hiding spot and check for any scratches we may have gotten. I'm pretty sure the darts are covered in something if it's used in hunts.' Kuromi nodded and quickly threw the blowgun off to the side somewhere; she didn't have a single care about where it landed and proceeded to enter deeper into the forest of trees. Stopping in an open area where she believed no one was around, the girl began to pant heavily and check her body, seeing a tiny yet slightly deep scratch on her leg. "It looks like we were hit when we weren't paying any attention.." Kuromi growled, looking around and climbing up another tree. 'It'll take time to recover, but I'm sure we'll be fine by at least half an hour?' Kiyoko reassured herself. 'It's just a scratch after all. If we were impaled by the dart then it'll take even longer for us to recover, just not too sure how long... It depends on how strong the poison he put on is.'

Kuromi was now groaning at the idea of sitting in a spot until the poison wore off, but she knew that if she did start moving, the poison may spread quicker and she'll become more vulnerable if she did encounter another test taker. "I wonder... Who're hunting Leorio and the others as well as vice versa..?" Kuromi suddenly asked. "They never said anything did they?"

'Gon said he's hunting Hisoka, didn't he?' Kiyoko reminded her. 'I do hope he'll be fine..' Kuromi rolled her eyes as she muttered a quick, 'You worry too much.' Kiyoko laughed a little awkwardly as she took over her body in case they needed to make another escape without the need to turn into a beast. She was, after all, physically faster than Kuromi. "Let's hold off on the switching. My head is starting to hurt," Kiyoko mumbled. "I think I'll hold off becoming a Lynith until it's nighttime. If someone is near while we're in rest, it'll be easier to sense them even if we're not paying attention." Checking around for more scratches on her body, the girl was relieved to see nothing but the single scratch and suddenly spotted Ponzu sneaking into a cave from a far, wondering if there was someone else in the pocket hiding. 'Are you thinking of checking what's up in the cave later?' Kuromi asked excitedly.

"Uhhhh, best that I stay away to stay alive.." Kiyoko responded nervously. "I don't know what Ponzu is capable of and I'm not about to find out just yet.." Kuromi then let out a low grumble as a distanced scream was heard from where Ponzu entered the cave. "Confirmed. I am not going in there with or without a plan," the bubbly girl said worriedly. "No idea what is in there and it's too risky after hearing that.."

* * *

The effect of the poison was finally fading off on her; she was able to move around and about whenever she liked. Searching around for resources to live off, the girl remained hidden from the open as long as she could as she slowly allowed her energy to refill. Along the way, she managed to find Leorio looking around the area she was in cautiously as he walked by slowly and quietly. Dropping to the ground behind him, the man jumped and swung his entire body around to see who it was, his face completely terrified. "Relax, it's just me," she laughed standing up straight. "Hey, do you have a spare band-aid or something, Leorio?" she asked, removing the honorifics.

"A band-aid? Of course I do. Did you somehow get hurt or something?" the man asked, putting down his suit case as he knelt down and searched for the requested item. The girl nodded and pointed at the scratch on her leg she manage to get. Inspecting it closely, Leorio nodded and cleaned up the scratch that bled a bit and pasted on the said band-aid to keep it from being affected. "Geretta, I think his name was, managed to find me and attacked," Kiyoko said. "If you do ever encounter him, avoid getting hit by the blow darts. It's poison covered and will paralyze you for a long time if it does get a direct hit."

"Thanks for the warning," he said as he cleaned up the mess he made. "Hey, do you know who number two-forty-six is?" Kiyoko blinked curiously as she shook her head side to side and crouched down low to stay hidden. "I don't remember many of the applicants' tags to be honest.." she said. "And I think I should go back and hide before anything else happens again.." An arrow suddenly passed by the two at a dangerous speed and distant. The girl quickly reacted and moved out of the pathway of the arrow as she pulled Leorio back down onto the floor from instincts. "They're hunting down their targets and I'm technically everyone's target," the girl said as she ran of and reflected the projectiles back. Leorio, crawled of away from the projectiles and ran off after Kiyoko while blocking his head from being hit, looking back frighteningly once in a while.

"Can't you do anything else besides run though?" Leorio exclaimed as he jumped over a decelerating arrow. Kiyoko laughed and jumped to spring over a log with her free arm, using the fallen plant as a shield. "I can fight, but I don't think it's a good idea since I recently recovered my energy and healed from minor paralysis," she said. The man groaned as he clumsily climbed over the giant fallen tree trunk and hid, Kiyoko looking around for anything to use. The girl suddenly picked up a flimsy stick that seemed to arch like a bow and inspected it for use, but after inspections she knew she could only use it once. "Leorio, do you have a long piece of string?" the girl asked, earning a weird look. "I managed to pick up some before I left the ship... Why?" the man asked curiously as he handed it over. Kiyoko shrugged as she pulled off an arrow on the log carefully after she finished creating the bow, some of the string dangling off the item. "Okay, so I only have one shot at this and hopefully I'm fast enough to send this arrow flying back to it's owner without fail..." Kiyoko said as she set up the handmade weapon. "It'll break after I shoot this." Sitting up and quickly sending the arrow off to where the shooter was by pulling it as far back as she could before having the stick snap, Kiyoko, like she said earlier, broke the flimsy bow and managed to send the arrow off successfully. An arrow suddenly grazed her cheek from the direction she shot the projectile right below from where she earn the last cut from the Kirikos, oozing a bit of blood. On the other side where Pokkle was hiding, the arrow she sent back managed to scrape a little of the side of his forehead and cut off a few strand of his hair. Pokkle immediately went pale and backed down for a bit before scanning the area again, getting his weapon ready for another send off.

"Say Leorio?" she called again, looking back down and dropping the broken stick. "Do you have another band-aid?" Leorio sighed as he urged her to sit back down quickly. "We need to get out of here quickly if you don't want to die or fail this exam," he said, cleaning the cut and covering it up. "I have a feeling that the arrow may have been poisoned as well.. Many hunters with these kind of weapons would do such things to hunt and kill their preys." The man then stood up and dragged the girl along with him to get out of shooting range again, hiding in the plants nearby and clearly not wanting to get hit. "Sorry for the trouble," Kiyoko said.

'Not sorry at all,' Kuromi muttered right after. Leorio cautiously looked around nervously and made sure that the person after them was finally gon before he began his search for his target again, shaking his head as he did so. "It's fine. If I wasn't here at this moment, you're probably going to be stuck with an infection or something." Kiyoko chuckled as she quickly jumped back up into a tree behind them, noticing the sky beginning to grow dark for the day. Sliding back down and landing near the man, the girl sighed and looked around for temporary shelter. "It's starting to get late... We'll need shelter and hope that no one will actually hunt each other at night.." Kiyoko then suddenly turned into her Lynith form which surprised Leorio since he practically forgot about her ability and dashed off to look for any place she could hide and rest. Leorio looked around anxiously and ran off with her far in front of him as he silently called to her name himself. 'Kiyoko, wait for me!' he hissed.

The girl turned white beast stopped by an area shrouded by many trees and rocks then crawled into a den, laying down to rest. Leorio came by and crawled into the den as well, groaning in disappointment. "I still haven't found my target yet...! I still don't know who they are..." Leorio complained. Kiyoko let out a low huff and scratched the back of her ear before laying back down. "Oh, right... I forgot you can't talk in that form.." he said, earning another low huff.

"Day two is coming near... Do you think you'll survive tomorrow as well?" Leorio continued to ask. Kiyoko growled in response and flipped over onto her back and stared at the ceiling, feeling uncomfortable with the recently earned scratch on her face. "Don't worry, it'll be just fine," the man said before laughing a little and patting her. Kiyoko shook her head and mentally laughed at herself as Kuromi grumbled and looked away. 'You're talking to an animal that can't even talk to you right now, you big lug,' the girl said. Of course Leorio couldn't hear her and continued to speak and eventually fell asleep, snoring loudly and keeping the girl up for a little longer. 'QUIT SNORINGGGGG!' Kuromi exclaimed as she grabbed her head.

'Just let it be...' Kiyoko mumbled tiredly, twitching her long white ears.

* * *

**Stormy: Went to my aunt's house during the weekends, mom finally came home meaning I no longer need to do all chores at home, spent time at the mall, watched movies, and went to parties with my friends, went out of town for a little bit with my sister, yeah... Sorry for all the late updates..! Now my friends are planning to go bowling. Oh great, I never knew how to bowl, LOL.**

**Leorio: Bowling? Just roll a ball, right? How hard could that be?**

**Kuromi: -Rolls a giant pot at him- Maybe as hard as running away from being hit by stuff?**

**Leorio: -Cursing-**

**Kiyoko: Stop it... -Breaks the pot with her weapon-**

**Everyone: -Sweat drops-**

**Leorio: -On the floor panting- Don't forget... the poll... -dying-**

**Everyone: Thank you for reading! R&amp;R and enjoy!**

**_~stormy003_**


	23. Chapter 22

Sunlight slowly flooded in the entrance of the den where Leorio and Kiyoko hid as the girl turned lynith continued to sleep peacefully, practically ignoring the fact that she was being used as a cuddle pillow by Leorio. The man groaned and sat up from his position, rubbing his eyes tiredly and looking over at the white beast next to him. Of course, he forgot about her ability again and flinched at the sight of her sleeping, sighing in relief once it clicked into his tired brain.

"Oi, Kiyoko, it's bright out and we should start looking around for whoever my target is again," he called, patting the beast. The lynith cringed a little, her left ear twitching and flopping little at his voice and touch. "Kiyoko... We don't want to be caught by someone else now do you?" asked Leorio, shaking her body and scratching behind her ear. The beast eventually woke up and yawned, showing her white fangs, sitting up and stretching her back tiredly. Leorio's face slightly paled when he saw her white fangs, but he eventually calmed down and scratched her head. "We need to find applicant two-forty-six for me to pass and for you, to not get caught in order for you to pass this phase as well. Along the way, we may bump into Gon and the others, but we must be careful," he told the girl pushing at her nose. The girl sneezed and pawed her semi-wet nose uncomfortably, frowning at Leorio and eventually reverted back to human, the girl still having her ears and tail.

"If I was Kuro, you would've been hurt by now," the girl chuckled, pulling her legs closer to her body. "Now all we need to do is wait for these ears and tail to disappear for us to set off in our search. How long have we been sleeping already?" Leorio shrugged as he looked back outside of the den and then back at the girl. "Maybe we woke up later than usual... It's a lot brighter than the sunlight at seven in the morning..."

'But we should be safe, I didn't hear anything strange last night nor this morning around the area..' Kuromi told Kiyoko.

'Neither did I..' Kiyoko thought. "Besides your loud snoring, I think this place is a pretty good hideout.. Kuromi and I certainly did not pick up anything strangely abnormal around here during the night or this morning." Leorio frowned and blushed when the girl mentioned about his snoring, crossing his arms and legs together like a denying child. "Snoring? I don't snore that loud or snore at all!" he protested.

"I wish I could record you to prove you wrong..." Kuromi suddenly said, emerging from underneath Kiyoko's usual positive outlook and scaring the man. "Your snoring is like the sound of that storm we came across!" Kiyoko sweat dropped and immediately took over again, scratching the back of her head before pulling her hair back onto her left shoulder. "Alright, enough with that, please.. Anyways, we will be able to head out soon. I may have to separate with you at some point to keep you out of harm's way, but we'll eventually get back with each other again." Leorio nodded and gave her a thumbs up as he pushed up his sunglasses, ruffling up her hair roughly right after. "Of course! You can bet that we will bump into each other again!" the man said. "Just try your best not to get too injured or even lose your tag."

"That's a hard promise to keep, but okay... I'll try," the girl replied, smoothing her hair back in place. As the two stood up from the ground, the girl's animal features finally disappeared, allowing the two to sneak out the den without being caught. "Are you ready for day two?" the man suddenly asked confidently, giving off an excited looking grin. Kiyoko smiled and nodded hesitantly as an answer, rubbing her arm to calm herself down. "I just hope there isn't any teaming up when it comes to hunting me down. I'm not so great at these stuff," she replied with a chuckle. "But then again-"

"You have Kuromi, right?" Leorio asked, giving the girl a slap on the back. Kiyoko winced at impact and lightly laughed in response as the man repetitively apologized before Kuromi came out to kill him. "Oddly enough, yes," said Kiyoko.

"Oddly enough? What's that supposed to mean?" Kuromi asked as her other self ignored her question.

"So any ideas where you're going to start looking for the person with the tag you need to take?" Kiyoko asked. The tall man shook his head and sighed as he rubbed the side of his head exasperatedly. "No clue, really. I think I'll have to wander around some more until I suddenly bump into them," he replied as he point a thumb over to his right. "Let's start over there." The two agreed with each other and trotted off to start their look out for the day as Kuromi continued to grumble to herself and watched whatever she could see through Kiyoko's point of view.

* * *

Suddenly feeling something piercing into her back mentally after a few hours of walking and searching, the girl shuddered and looked around cautiously, straying away from Leorio slowly. Of course, the man noticed her moving away and gave her a questioning look as she held up a finger and pointed to a direction where she can feel the stare. He didn't know what she was trying to indicate until she began looking around again, seemingly alerted by her surroundings. "Great way to start off the day..." she told herself straying away from her friend completely. Once she was far enough and away from Leorio, the girl suddenly bolted off, the unknown person following her closely behind. She began to slow down when she noticed two other hidden participants on either sides of her. 'I'm guessing these are the brothers?' Kuromi asked.

'Well, probably? Didn't Tonpa say something about them always working together?' Kiyoko recalled. 'But anyways, anyone can team up and attack me.' The girl suddenly stopped in the middle of an open area as if she had no escape, giving a chance for the three to attack her. Kuromi's guess was correct; it was indeed the Amori brothers. The three lunged over to the girl to attack, a fist in the air for Umori, Imori sliding over to trip her, and Amori shooting over to catch her and steal her tag. Kiyoko only chuckled at their attempt and dove over to Imori 's side, getting out of the punch's way, being low enough to dodge the grab, and becoming air borne so she didn't get tripped. Imori stopped sliding and accidentally tripped over his brother, Umori, which caused him to fall over on top of him and hit Amori in the process. The boys were now groaning and glaring at each other as Kiyoko quickly made her escape. Imori was the first to notice as he tugged then punched his brother, Amori's arm. "She's getting away!" he announced, getting the others off him. The girl groaned as she turned around and slid back on her feet, her heels stopping her from going any further. The three continued to blindly charge at her as she whipped out her staff and dashed over to them as well, sliding out of the way before getting hit and striking them hard on their pressure point at their necks. Umori continued to try and stand up after the impact, but of course, Kiyoko didn't allow it and landed a swift blow on top of his head. "Sorry, but I'm not for sale," she said, switching to Kuromi briefly and smacking them again to make sure they wouldn't move anytime soon. The three groaned and yelped in pain as the wooden staff made contact with them again, falling to the ground with the hands twitching stiffly.

Kiyoko took off and sighed as she scratched the back of her head to relieve stress and anxiety from herself, her negative side returning. "Jeez, leave me alone already, guys...!" she whined as she continued to leave the area. It was certainly a typical day for the girl; well, that is if you consider being hunted down as an everyday activity. She was out in the open again, looking for another area where she could go to hiding, but then again, it wasn't a too much of a bad idea to stay in the open and away from shrouded areas like tall grass or columns of tall trees. "Now if I was a hunter who's looking for a girl that's worth six point- damn, I sound like I'm bidding myself to a rapist...- where would I be hiding...?" she asked herself aloud, walking down the empty path and keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. A light brushing noise, leaves against object, suddenly sounded to her left, causing her to keep right and stay away from the area. "Definitely the bushes and grasses..." she muttered nervously. Hoping the person hidden in the bushes didn't see her, the girl quietly tiptoed away only to see a pudgy short figure pop out of the said bushes. "Haaaaa...! That felt great..." the man said, Kiyoko's face twisting into disgust and nervousness.

"A-ahhhh...! I may have seen too much..!" the girl squeaked. Tonpa looked over to the girl curiously and blinked before panicking, looking around and hiding himself behind the bush. "D-DON'T COME NEAR ME! UHHHHH, JUST A SECOND!" he exclaimed, bending down for a private reason. Kuromi suddenly took over Kiyoko's vulnerable mind and ran over to the man who looked up only to get an inviting foot to the face. "YOU DISGUSTING WORM!" she growled disturbingly. Tonpa flew off into the distance and bounced on the ground a few times before he slide on his face with his pants down and his butt up in the air. He then pushed him up from the ground and glared at Kuromi, unaware of the personality swap. "CAN'T A MAN TAKE A PISS IN PEACE?!" Tonpa hollered angrily as he pulled up his pants all the way before having a slap on the face with the staff.

"Not out in the damn open...!" Kuromi growled, her face completely flustered. The girl then jabbed her staff into his abdomen and sent him off into the air again just a foot away from his spot. Kuromi then stomped away, leaving the man groaning in pain on the ground. 'It's our fault for not being... careful,' Kiyoko told her angered self. 'Our mistake. Let's not blame him for that and forget whatever just happened.' As the two continued down the open path, the two came across Gon who was laying on the ground along side a headless Geretta which caused Kiyoko to panic. "G-Gon?" the girl called as she emerged back to the surface of herself and ran to the boy.

"K-Kiyo?" he replied, unable to move. The girl sighed and dragged him away with his belongings into a closed area and sat down next to him. "Let me guess... You were attacked by Geretta?" the girl asked. The boy wanted to look up at her at the moment, but wasn't able to since he was paralyzed. "... Yeah.." he chuckled bitterly. "I was training and he managed to catch me when I was off guard.." He sounded disappointed much to the girl's dismay, shooting him a worried smile and patting him. "Did something else happened?" she asked cautiously. "Don't lie now... I know when you're lying." The boy remained silent for a bit, feeling ashamed. "He beat me to it.."

"He? Who, Hisoka?" the girl asked, frowning a little. "What do you mean beat you to it?" He wasn't in a good mood for sure, but he was still able to talk to the girl calmly despite how much shame he was coating onto himself. "I need to beat him... I don't need his pity.." he grumbled. "I failed to notice Geretta nearby after stealing Hisoka's tag. He ended up killing Geretta and giving his tag up to me as if pitying me for my own mistake." Kiyoko continued to remain by his side and rubbed his arm reassuringly as he gave of a silently sob, trying to hide his disappointment for the rest of the exam. "I'm alright..." he suddenly said.

"Don't worry, Gon. You will be able to fight him soon and you will win," the girl told her friend.

* * *

**Stormy: I finally got new glasses! Thank goooooooddddddddd~ -so happy- Thanks for waiting for this next chapter~ Haha, I noticed... the story is nearly over...! -gasp- But it doesn't really feel like it...! -gasp again-**

**Kiyoko: -Sweat drops- Not like you can't make new stories...**

**Kuromi: Yeah... Anyways, poll on Stormy's profile so please check it out!**

**Everyone: Thank you for reading! R&amp;R and enjoy!**

**_~stormy003_**


	24. Chapter 23

Kiyoko has been keeping a look out for herself and Gon during the time the young boy was recovering from paralysis, but she was beginning to grow anxious about how quiet it was around them. The boy was finally able to finally start moving again, but it was still not enough for him to go off on his own. "Kiyoko, has anyone landed a hit on you yet?" Gon suddenly asked, as he tried turning.

"I'd be lying if I said no to keep self pride," she replied as she stretch out her arms. "Geretta also managed to scratch a dart on me. The Amori Trio or brothers also tried to attack by surrounding me out in the open." Humming in response, Gon successfully got himself to flip over onto his back and looked at Kiyoko blankly. "Do you think we'll pass?"

"Eh?" the girl replied curiously, looking down.

"All five of us, do you think we'll pass the exam and become hunters?" he repeated to make things more clearer. Kiyoko didn't know how to answer his question without giving him false hope, but she certainly didn't want to bring down his mood either, especially in his current state. "To be honest, Gon, I don't know. We can only hope and believe that we will," she said awkwardly, looking back ahead of her. Bringing a hand up to hers shakily, Gon smiled and pulled it over to himself which got her attention back on him. "You're right. We can only be positive about these type of things and do our best, right?" he said.

"That is correct," said the girl as she chuckled and held his hand a little. It seemed that he was still pretty moody and possibly a bit scared about what happened earlier with Hisoka suddenly killing Geretta like that, but for sure he was improving his mental and physical state as time continued to pass by. It is unknown to the teen whether he was bottling up the rest of his state of mind, but she only knew that he didn't want to make her worry any longer. "I met Leorio on the way," the girl decided to say.

"Really?" Gon asked hopefully. "Is he doing alright with this phase?"

"Yes and no," she giggled. "He's fine if you think that's what I mean, but he just can't find his target. Do you happen to know who two-forty-six is?" The boy blinked and began to ponder on the tag number, humming out loud to exaggerate himself. "I don't. Maybe Killua does. But I don't know where his is... And he did say that he didn't bother memorizing all the tags."

"You useless kid...!" Kuromi exclaimed as she took over.

"Hi, Kuro," Gon greeted casually.

"Ugh, hi.." she grumbled. "Feeling any better?"

"Yes, much!" the boy replied. "Except, I still can't move.'

Kiyoko was now just chuckling nervously at his response as Kuromi rolled her eyes; the boy on the other hand was smiling his usual and blinding the negative side of the girl. Meanwhile with Leorio, Tonpa managed to get his grubby hands on his tag unexpectedly. "DAMN YOU, TONPA!" the young man exclaimed angrily. "I'LL MAKE YOU PAY!" Being as blind as ever when angered, Leorio took off after Tonpa while Sommy and his monkey jumped and hung onto a tree branch out of his way. "Tonpa, we'll meet up at the usual spot!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah, gotcha!" the chubby man replied as he was chased by the angry doctor-to-be.

"HOLD STILL! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Leorio screamed furiously.

"I'm not the one holding your tag right now, so why are you even chasing me?" Tonpa called from ahead, smiling triumphantly as he runs away from Leorio.

"OH SHUT UP!" he replied.

"Good grief...! You still haven't learned your lesson just yet, Rookie?" asked Tonpa. His taunting continued to fuel Leorio's anger and apparently, an angered Leorio always meant a sightless and hopeless Leorio or so his group would say. "WHAT WAS THAT?"

"It was your own fault for letting yourself be tricked by us in the first place!" Tonpa pointed out. Apparently, that last statement really ticked him off as he picked up the pace he was going at and growled at the shorter man. "Besides, it's common sense to work as a team during these Hunter Exams!" he concluded.

"I agree with the latter, but I cannot accept the former," a certain Kurta answered calmly.

"Eh?" Tonpa said as he turned to look forward. Apparently, the chase ends as Kurapika brought up his leg effortlessly and kicked the running man in the face, sending him spinning forward and landing on the ground face down. "You shouldn't even be tricking people in the first place!" the boy concluded.

"Eh? Kurapika?" Leorio called as he slowed to stop.

"Leorio, want to form a team with me from here on out?" the Kurta asked casually as he sent off a smile. The man blinked blankly and just gave a silent nod to the younger boy before the two decided to give Tonpa a beating and tie him up. Leorio and Kurapika then dragged him out into the open and set a 'Do not feed!' sign behind him before the left and dusting themselves off. "Now to get my tag back..." Leorio said irritably, giving a forced smile in the direction Sommy left.

Again, the man made a mad dash off where they were before and was able to spot the man and his monkey swinging away in the trees. "RETURN MY TAG THIS INSTANT!" Leorio yelled just as annoyed as before.

"If you want your tag back, then catch me if you can!" Sommy taunted, giving an amused sounding laugh.

Kurapika eventually caught up to the two, even surpassing their distance, and grabbed the monkey when they passed by. He was now holding the pair of bokken swords at the monkey's neck casually with his eyes closed, waiting for Sommy to respond to his action as he looked over and smiled at the monkey owner. Leorio finally got his tag back, but before Sommy and his monkey could escape, they both gave them the same treatment they gave to Tonpa. Both Sommy and the monkey were tied up and brought back to sit with a beaten up Tonpa, tiny rodents coming to see them from in the tall grass they viewed.

"Okay! I've finally got my tag back..." Leorio said in relief, putting it away in his briefcase.

"And we also managed to get tag numbers sixteen and one-eighteen as well," Kurapika noted as he paced around slowly, looking at the tags in his hand.

"So, Kurapika, Tonpa was your target?" Leorio asked. "You really saved me back there.."

"No need to thank me," the boy responded as he took off his bag to put away the tags they stole. "I simply didn't want Tonpa to notice me, so I stayed hidden while you were getting jumped from behind."

"... What..?" Leorio muttered as he began to glare at the young teen.

"Well, that was because I figured there would be no point in teaming up with you if you couldn't withstand such an attack," the Kurta continued, his back facing the man. "I suppose you you barely qualified." Kurapika stood back up and hung the bag back onto his shoulder, adjusting it to rest comfortably.

'... You are really full of yourself, aren't you..?' Leorio muttered lowly, a sweat dropping from such statement. "Well, I can't deny that it certainly is easier to work as a team. Let's stick together for the remaining days we have on this island. I believe we're here for a week?" Kurapika immediately agreed to the idea and turned around to face Leorio as he closed his briefcase. "Since you have your target's tag and you still have your own, then that adds up to six points."

"Assuming that he won't take it back," Kurapika added. "Also, the one-eighteen tag is just worth one point for us both."

"But it might come in handy," Leorio said as they began to walk off.

"Well, now we need to find number two-forty-six, Ponzu. Also known as your target."

".. Stay alert, we may be followed," the older man warned.

"You shouldn't even be the one talking.."

"Yeah, yeah. You are absolutely right."

* * *

Day two passed by just as quickly as day one did and Gon has still yet to recover completely. The good thing was that he was able to sit up by himself, but he still struggled to push himself upright. Kuromi had carried the boy on her back the entire day as she snuck around to seek out a good cover spot for the two to rest. It was currently nighttime and finally, she had found a place to stay safe.

"Sorry, Kiyoko, Kuromi. I must be troubling you right now," the young boy apologized. Kuromi rolled her eyes in response. "Kiyoko said it's fine and all you need now is rest. Just a warning, kid, but we might have to ditch you when the time comes."

"Ditch?" Gon repeated as he looked at the girl.

"Yes, ditch. We don't want you, guys to get caught up in our part," Kuromi grumbled.

"But isn't it better to stick with others and team up?" he asked.

"I do things my way, my style," Kuromi stated as she smirked. "Kiyoko just rolls with me, well sometimes.." The boy stared blandly at her and then began laughing a little. "You sound just like Leorio when you say that!" he pointed out which caused the girl to grin. "Feeling better now, right? None of us here wants each other to be hurt and since our tag is worth a fortune to everyone, they're bound to team up on us. It's not that I- or Kiyoko- don't trust your abilities, but we're only here to keep you out of harms way." the girl stated. "Do you understand?"

"Well, yes, I understand, but I'm not going to listen," Gon said.

"Uh... Excuse me..?" Kuromi asked, blinking curiously.

Day three. The morning wasn't off to a good start. Kuromi ran off again while Gon decided to go hide. The girl was leading the attention of their hunter away from the younger boy and it was a successful attempt. The boy was beginning to panic also in which he slid back down onto the ground and followed the two further out into the open, but by the time he caught up, Kuromi was no longer in sight and Bodoro was now guessing which way she took off to.

"Jeez! Those people are so annoying...!" the girl exclaimed as she kept running back into a closed area.

"Annoying people? I only see scattering preys I can hunt," a familiar bone chilling voice said.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Kuromi hollered out of fear, backing away from the tree Hisoka stood behind. "What do you want now? My tag? No way am I letting you get this tag!" The man smiled his usually creepy looking smiled and chuckled lowly. Of course, both Kiyoko and Kuromi were terrified by the man's presence and gaze, but Kuromi couldn't really budge from her spot.

"Should I? Or should I not..?" he began to ponder as he twirled his hand, making a single joker card appear and disappear with each twirl.

"Uhh... Bye! Please don't go anywhere near me during this exam," Kuromi said nervously as she took off again.

"They actually thought I was after them?" he asked to himself. "Adorable." Another shiver was sent down their spines as they ran deeper and deeper into the island's center, eventually stopping to rest. 'Maybe we should have stuck with Gon... But that'd still be dangerous..' Kiyoko told herself.

"HE NEEDS TO DISAPPEAR!" Kuromi growled as she rubbed her back to get the tingling sensation away.

* * *

**Stormy: School starting soon, noooo!**

**Kiyoko: -Pats-**

**Leorio: There's a poll on Stormy's profile still so go check it out!**

**Kuromi: Whatever..**

**Everyone: Well, thanks for reading! R&amp;R! Question... Continue this until Yorknew City or end after the exam?**

**_~stormy003_**


	25. Chapter 24

" I have no idea where we are right now..." Kuromi grumbled, frowning to herself as she looked about the area. "Hopefully Gon wasn't attacked. That's unless he mindlessly followed us..."

'I don't think that boy will follow us right after the chase.' Kiyoko chuckled nervously. 'Now all we need to do is continue avoiding the people here and find out where we are..'

"But that's the problem... WHERE IN THE HELL ARE WE?!" Kuromi exclaimed, crossing her arms and frowning altogether.

'I-I don't know?' the other girl replied, chuckling nervously.

Switching over with each other quickly, Kiyoko rested her arms and began to walk around again, looking at the environment and noting any danger to come. They were safe, sure, but it doesn't mean they were in the green light.

"I feel like we should start hiding again.. I don't like walking around openly this...

'But nobody is near us?' Kuromi asked.

"It doesn't hurt to be safe..." the other girl replied, walking over to a shrouded area.

"But talking to yourself all day is the easiest way to get caught," a voice said.

The girl jumped at the sound and fell backwards on her bottom with a thud. Looking at who it was, she sighed in relief and tried to calm her rapidly beating heart.

"I'm sorry, did I frighten you?" Kurapika asked, smiling softly as he walked over and pulled her back up.

'YOU MOST CERTAINLY DID, YOU SNAIL!' Kuromi hollered.

"Ah... Yes, but I'm fine," Kiyoko replied as she brushed off her sullied clothes. "Have you found your target yet?"

The teenager nodded as he gave a quick pat to his bag he wore around himself.

"I see... That's great," the girl said.

'Oi, Kurapika! I spotted a strange cave over on my side. Maybe we can go check it out tomorrow, possibly tonight,' Leorio called, his voice becoming more audible as he came closer. "Ah, Kiyoko! How's it going? No other injuries now are there?"

"Injury?" the Kurta asked quickly.

"I'm fine, thank you. No other injuries," the girl replied, holding up her hand to stop the Kurta from grabbing her and inspecting for any serious wounds.

The boy immediately stopped advancing himself over to Kiyoko, knowing that she didn't want him to worry about her so much. He still couldn't help, however, think about what sort of injuries she got herself into.

"How serious was it?" he asked the lavender haired girl.

"It was just a scratch damn it, now shut up!" Kuromi yelled, emerging out from underneath angrily.

"Ah. What she said," the other one said awkwardly.

"At least it wasn't a deep cut or a stab then..." Kurapika replied, completely relieved that she was okay and not terribly hurt.

The girl nodded but then suddenly stopped smiling and looked around caustiously as if she was an animal at prey, or well, she is one at the moment. She then allowed herself to take on her beast form and listened to her surroundings carefully, still eying the area little by little.

'So that's how a Lynith looks like up close...' Kurapika thought observantly.

"Someone must be nearby if she's acting this way.." Leorio suddenly said, stepping over to the female beast and patting at her.

It slightly bothered the Kurta due to the man treating the girl as a real animal despite her form yet she wasn't very bothered by it herself. Turning away and taking off, Leorio stood up and ran off himself, motioning the boy with him to follow.

"A hunter is near. She's going into hidng now and we must not expose ourselves either," the man told him.

"I can well see that happening right about now," Kurapika replied in a deadpanned tone.

"Please, save your wonderful sarcasm for youself later.." Leorio grumbled." Well split away from Kiyo for now. She doesn't want us to get hurt or anything and plus she'll just run away from us."

'If you say so...' he agreed quietly. 'I don't want to bother her, but I don't want her to get hurt...'

He then trailed his fingers up to his forehead and pressed his face against his palm in stress, rubbing his temples to relieve himself. Leorio looked over to the worried teen and blinked a few times, sighing silently.

"Did you say something?" he decided to ask the Kurta.

"No, nothing at all," the boy replied nonchalantly.

The man eventually stopped running, stopping Kurapika in his tracks as well and earning his attention.

"You shouldn't worry too much. She can take care of herself especially in that form."

"Did I show it clearly?" Kurapika asked curiously.

The man nodded as he gave him his monkey grin and laughed, slapping his back.

"..!"

"Really? What kind of question is that? Of course!"

"I didn't expect it to be that... obvious..." he said, smiling at the taller man. "No need to worry about me. Let's continue the search for your target's tag."

'Please tell me we aren't being followed,' Kuromi said as she forced herself to look back.

It was hard to see since her floppy ears were obscuring her line of sight as she continued to run. The ears were just busying themselves with slapping her snout and eyes whenever to lunged forward with force to keep herself going.

'And... we are not being followed,' she concluded, looking back ahead. 'Stupid ears.'

'We can't help it,' Kiyoko mumbled.

The two eventually stopped and skidded into a bush, walking out calming in their human form. Sadly enough, their ears and tail were still visible on their body much to Kiyoko's dismay.

"Thank god no one is here... I wonder how much longer we have to last on this island," the girl thought, leaping into a tree to rest.

'I don't know, but I know I just want to leave. This is stressful,' Kuromi groaned. 'I hate being target. We're not playing tag or anything like that...'

"Kuro, you know this isn't a game. I just want to go home once this is all over," Kiyoko sighed. "I wish I didn't come here... I hate being chased around like this."

"Then why did you come?" Killua asked, looking over at her.

The girl flinched at his questioning voice and fell backwards, clinging onto the tree branch for dear life with her tightly clenched legs. The young boy ended up snickering at her a little as he settled himself down in a more comfortable position on the branch, Kiyoko pulling herself back up.

"What's with you guys appearing out of nowhere like that...?" she asked in a slightly whiny tone.

"Sorry not sorry, but you got to get used to it sooner or later," he muttered, bringing his arms up to rest behind his head. "Anyways, why is it that you come here then if you didn't want to? Cause of the Old Grouch?"

'HEY!'

"Yeah, you can say that and please halt the name calling. She'll attack sooner or later."

"Ah, no worries. Not like she can do anything," he commented with a smirk.

"Er.. Just don't attack or so.. You'll hurt me too," Kiyoko said nervously.

"Got you."

"Look, I didn't want to come here, but since this is for Kuro's sake, I left home to take on this exam. She's violent, she be all out violent here. It's not like I wanted to, but anything to satisfy her lust. She gives me headaches..." the girl complained as she rubbed her temples.

'I get headaches from SITTING AT HOME AND DOING NOTHING!' Kuromi yelled, pounding her fists in the air.

The exhausted girl was now trying to ignore herself as Kuromi continued to throw a fit, setting more stress into her body than she ever needed. It only made her question why her negative personality even existed in the first place, but that question also made he remember her brother. The thought of him was never pleasant in her mind.

"You didn't have to listen to that other one if you didn't want to, but since you're here now, you got Gon and those other two right?" Killua asked, nudging the side of her body. "It... might have been different without you around. Maybe.."

Kiyoko laughed as she pushed his elbow away, brushing the area he was nudging at to stop her skin from feeling ticklish. The tingling sensation eventually went away after he stopped nudging her semi-hard.

"Who knows? It could have been better without me here!" she laughed. "Who knows?"

Shrugging it off casually, Killua lazily positioned himself on the branch to lay down and take a rest. He looked really bored and uninjured, allowing Kiyoko to make a few assumptions concerning his target.

"Say, did you get your target yet?" asked the curious girl.

"Hah?"

Killua lifted up his head to look at her, showing a face that gave her a rude response she could think of. Things like, "Are you kidding me?" or "No really." or even, "You're stupidly out of your mind, right? Of course I did."

"Yeah. I did alright. It was simple and they were really careless to the point where they looked stupid as hell..." he commented.

That was when he began to rant, showing a frown that stuck with him for the entire complaint he had to give out.

"One of them thought I was just a kid and that he needed to easy easy on me. It was funny yet I forgot how to laugh. Actually all of them thought I was just a kid and tried beating me up! Obviously, I was able to grab their tags and scatter them. I still took my target's tag though. You know what's even worse? They... were really slow. The kicks they swung and the punches they threw at me were laughable! Even their teamwork was sloppy and I know barely anything about teamwork! Well, more than them at least. Hey, do you have any chocolate?"

"I'm sorry, I don't..." replied Kiyoko awkwardly. "But hey, you got the tag and you're all set."

'He complains too much...' growled Kuromi.

'Please tell that to yourself because you're looking at a near carbon copy of yourself,' Kiyoko thought back.

'Am not!'

"I'm going to sleep.." muttered the young boy. "Wake me up when it's time to eat or something..."

"Eh? W-wait.. It's still morning and I don't have the time... Killua?" called the girl. "... He's asleep.."

* * *

**Stormy: Ugh, school. Ugh, SATs... Blahhhh, ACTs... And volunteering and studying and homework... JUNIOR YEAR SUCKSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! -cries- I AM SO NERVOUSE FOR THE UPCOMING SAT AND ACT TEST I'M TAKING SOON, HOLY CRAP! -HYPERVENTILATING-**

**Kiyoko: Updates will be terribly, terriblyyyyyyyyyyyyy slow this year. Apologies to all readers!**

**R&amp;R and enjoy! Sorry for such a short chapter and such a delay... -sob-**

**_~stormy003_**


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